Summer Nights
by QuirkQuirk
Summary: It's the summer holidays – the last one of their Hogwarts years – and they're going to make it count. Marauders, Sirius/Remus twoshot. COMPLETE
1. so we'll set the world on fire

**Author's Notes:** So, uh… whoops. Where have I been lately? I guess Real Life has finally sunk its claws into me, and I'm finding less and less time and energy for writing fanfiction… but I will never give up! So here's a Sirius/Remus twoshot to apologize for my absence. I've been working on it on and off for months, and figured I'd finally just step it up and get it finished so that I could post the first half as a little birthday gift to myself today! I've been kind of stuck in a "bleh" place lately, and Harry Potter, and the Marauders especially, have been a big help to me, so I thought it would be nice to give back some of that love… and also just in case anyone was wondering if I was still alive or not, here is proof that I am. XD

**The disclaimer! **Contrary to popular belief, I am not J. K. Rowling. I know, I was surprised when I found out too. So gee, I guess I don't own the rights to anything! Bummer! Please don't sue me – I'm just having fun.

**Pairing(s):** Sirius/Remus! Slight side dish of James/Lily.

**Summary:** It's the summer holidays – the last one of their Hogwarts years – and they're going to make it count. Sirius is charming and brash, Remus has a hard time loosening up, James is eager and oblivious, Peter is awkward, and it all gets a little out of control... but in the end they all collectively agree that it's pretty much the best summer of their lives.

**Warnings:** Male/male relations, underage recreational activities (depending on your location/world's local laws, I suppose) including tittie bars and booze, swearing, reckless abandon… basically, it's about teenage boys being teenage boys.

**Dedication:** To my very closest of friends – you know who you are – for always standing by me through thick and through thin. That is what Marauders do.

**Other stuff: **The songs I listened to while creating this fic, in case you are interested, are "Take It Off" by Ke$ha, "Tonight I'm Fuckin' You" by Enrique Eglacias and "Summer '79" by The Ataris, and most recently during the final home stretch of writing/editing, "We Are Young" by Fun. Feat Janelle Monáe. I can't necessarily say I'm proud of the first two selections, but darnit I'm not ashamed either! They are catchy! … Shut up! If you read closely, you can catch their influential undertones.

**.o.O.o.**

**Summer Nights**

**.o.O.o.**

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

It was at least the fifth time Sirius had said it, in the same whining, irritating fashion. James, the lucky idiot bastard, had already picked his side – same as Sirius – and was therefore exempt from the insufferable badgering that Remus and Peter were finding themselves subjected to. Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes for the umpteenth time, and replied as levelly as he could manage.

"Sirius, cut it out. Begging's not going to get you anything but backwards progress at this point. Although I'm not sure how much further backwards you can get, from here."

Sirius sighed dramatically. "I'm only begging because you two are being ridiculous! James thinks it's a smashing idea; you're just being stubborn." He stopped, and turned his attention to Peter, specifically. "Come on Pete! It'll be really _cool_."

"Hey!" Remus interrupted, frowning. "No fair, going for the weakest link. It's a stupid idea, and we're not at school – we would be potentially breaking _laws_, not just _rules_."

It was the summer holidays following their 6th year, and the Marauders had gathered together for a weekend at the Potter's, who were always glad to have James's friends over to visit. The only problem was, the older they got, the less there seemed to be for doing for fun at James's house. Long gone were the days that they could keep themselves occupied building forts under tables or in the attic out of boxes, and it had been some time since they had been able to enjoy the grassy lawns and playground structures of the local park with the same level of adventuring abandon they used to. As such, Sirius had taken it upon himself to do some local research on what kinds of age-appropriate entertainment there was to be found, and of course had come back with something not age-appropriate in the least.

"You, Remus, are a stick-in-the-mud." Sirius sniffed haughtily. "We are Marauders, and as such, we are not to be restrained by silly things like _rules_ and _laws_. Come ooooon, Peter! You know you want to! There will be boobies!"

Peter choked on nothing and spluttered, obviously taken aback by Sirius's blunt approach. "I… well, I mean…"

"Stop peer pressuring him. You know it's not right, with how susceptible he is." Remus insisted, shifting his weight from one arm to the other, both of which he was leaning back on from his seated position on the floor. Sirius was sitting sprawled across "his" bed (having been to visit the Potter's regularly enough to stake claim in one of the guest rooms, while Remus and Peter got pull-out beds on James and Sirius's room's floors), with James by his side, and Peter was shifting awkwardly in the desk chair. They'd been arguing back and forth in these positions for quite some time, and Remus was starting to get sore from the hardwood floor.

"I will when you stop being a fun sucker!" Sirius retorted. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"The _big deal_ is that it's a strip club! A Muggle strip club, Sirius! We'd be given away in no time, with how young we look, or how non-Muggle we act, and they'd throw us out. That's assuming we could even get in in the first place – we don't have any Muggle identification. They check those, at the door. And last but not least, it's tasteless. A titty bar, Sirius? Honestly!"

Sirius sat back and squared himself, obviously formulating his rebuttal. "Oh my dear Moony, how misinformed you are! For one, we are all perfectly capable of acting Muggle, and with all the action that's going to be going on, no one would notice if we weren't anyways. Secondly, I have already procured Muggle identification for us, thank you very much!"

Sirius reached into his pocket, drawing out small, laminated cards and flourishing them at Remus importantly with a smug look on his face. Reluctantly, Remus took them for a look, and found that they were indeed quite passable. He hadn't seen many Muggle identification cards, but these certainly looked authentic, wherever Sirius had gotten them from. They even had their pictures on them.

"And _thirdly_," Sirius continued. "It is not a _titty bar_, you uncultured swine! It is a _strip club_. Meaning that in addition to breasts and booze, there will be music and a dance floor, and you can go to the washrooms without fearing for your virtue or sanitation. Did I mention there will be boobies?" The last part was aimed slyly at Peter, who seemed to be warming up to the idea.

"Maybe… maybe we could just go check it out a bit." He hedged. "Just to see."

"That's a good man!" Sirius barked, scooter over into James, and patting the newly vacated seat next to him on the bed. Looking pleased, Peter hurried to take it.

"Just you left, mate." James pointed out, grinning. "As much as I'd love to see how long you can hold out against him, you know he's going to win over in the end. Maybe you should just quit while you're ahead, yeah?"

Remus glowered, realizing that James had a point. Once Sirius decided that he wanted something, he stopped at nothing to get it, and had a nearly flawless track record of success. As well, Remus was starting to feel rather outcast, still seated on the floor on his own, with everyone else comfortable on the bed. Maybe James was right.

"If we go…" Remus cautiously began. "We're not going to be stupid about it. One wrong move and we could end up getting rung up for breaking the Statute of Secrecy or something. If we're told to leave, we'll leave quietly, and I reserve all rights to cut you off from the drinks you're sure to be having when you've had enough."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, looking Remus over carefully and weighing what he had said. Then, breaking out into a grin, he stuck out a hand.

"You, sir, have a deal!" He said, grasping tightly to Remus's hand when he offered it, dragging the slighter boy onto the bed with them in a jumbled heap. Remus found himself pulled right on top of Sirius, having his back thumped enthusiastically as James whooped and Peter cheered.

And Remus, though he tried not to, couldn't help but smile.

**.o.O.o.**

"Where are we?"

It was Peter expressing the doubts, looking around suspiciously, as though there were eyes watching him from behind every trash can and down every dark alley.

"Almost there!" Sirius informed the group excitedly. "Just a little bit – oh! There it is!"

It was the next evening, and they had Apparated as close to the club as they were able, and taken a short trolley ride from there. The trolley let them out only a few blocks away from their destination, but it was apparent that they now found themselves in a seedier part of town. Neon signs flickered garishly, and nearly all of the establishments along the street were closed, with the exception of a few bars, and a 24 hour market. The "there" that Sirius was indicating was a little hole-in-the-wall highlighted by a glowing entrance with a queue formed outside it and a gruff looking bouncer. Remus rolled his eyes; they would never be able to get past security. Nonetheless, Sirius and James looked alive with excitement, and even Peter, through his nerves, looked morbidly curious.

Remus didn't see what the big deal was. They could sneak Firewhisky into their dorms any old day, and this club was sure to be too hot and too full of people and loud music. That did leave the "boobies" that Sirius kept going on about, but Remus didn't really see the appeal. Breasts were aesthetically pleasing enough, but the thrill was rather cheapened when he knew they would be presented by girls paid to be on show, covered in glitter and too-much makeup. But if this was what the others wanted, he would go along with it, and try to keep them out of as much trouble as he could.

"We're in line!" James whispered excitedly, pulling out his identification card and gripping it by the edges with both hands in childlike delight. "Forgive me, Lily, for the trespasses mine eyes are soon to make!"

Sirius laughed. "I'm sure she'll forgive you. Seeing as she _still_ hasn't warmed up to your advances yet, and could care less about what you're doing and who you're doing it with." James scowled at him, but Peter couldn't hold back a chortle, and even Remus felt his lips twitch upwards. It was rather hopelessly pathetic, the way James kept chasing after the redheaded girl, and acted as though they were already an item and she just hadn't received the memo yet.

They waited their turn, and before long stepped to the front of the line, where the bouncer looked them over skeptically. "I.D.?" He asked.

One by one they handed the cards over, and surely they were going to be caught. No matter what the cards read, Remus was sure that it was dreadfully obvious that they were underage. From their over-eager expression to the way they had dressed for the occasion in crisp, fitted Muggle shirts and trousers, there was no way they convincingly looked the part. Preemptively smug at being right from the start, he handed his card over last, watching the bouncer eye it critically. Any moment now he was going to call them out and send them on their way with some parting taunts.

Remus was shocked, therefore, when the large man merely handed their cards back, unhooked the rope barring their way, and ushered them in with a detached "Alright, go on."

Sirius and James's eyes widened in surprised excitement, and Remus could tell it was all they could do to not rush the door in their haste to get inside. Peter, although looking intimidated, was also positively quivering in excitement.

"Alright, then." Remus muttered, following his friends.

The muffled bass that could be heard from outside suddenly became booming, and there were lights everywhere. It smelled of smoke and alcohol the sweat of many bodies packed into a confined area, and Remus looked around curiously. He had never been to a place like this before. It was… wild. The thrumming music seemed to commandeer his chest, and replace his heartbeat with its own wild pace. The lights were flashing and pulsing, making the scene seem more like a quick succession of photographs than a fluidly moving landscape, and there seemed to be flashes of glitter and bright feathers positively everywhere.

But the crowning eye-catchers and crowd-pleasers were definitely the girls. Raised platforms with poles were placed interminably through the dance floor and around the walls, upon which writhed scantily clad ladies. Remus's eyes widened to see that most of them, underneath the glitter and feathers, were wearing little more than skimpy, bedazzled panties. As they moved, their decorated bodies caught the light, and their full breasts swung heavily. Remus blushed. It was all so… in-your-face. Even with them on full display, he felt as though it was rude to look.

After a frozen moment of taking the surroundings in, looking much like they had the first time they entered Zonko's, Sirius and James were pushing to the crowd towards the bar. Peter was rooted to the spot in shock, and Remus shook his head, grabbing the blonde by the wrist and tugging him to the bar to join the others.

"Four shots of your finest Firewhiskey!" Remus heard James demanding as he pounded enthusiastically on the bar top. Sirius clapped him on the back in wild support, and Remus redoubled his efforts to get to them, tugging harder on Peter's wrist, as the blond seemed intent on taking his sweet time; caught up in the lights and half-naked girls.

"James!" Remus hissed, finally reaching the bar. "There's _no such thing as Firewhisky_, remember?"

"Oh." James replied, looking surprised. "Right! Well in that case… hey, where'd he go?"

"Don't worry about it." Sirius assured them. "All he heard was 'whiskey', and if he did catch the 'fire' bit, he's just going to come back with some sort of mix drink. Relax, Remus."

Despite his fears that this adventure was already headed for disaster, Remus did relax. Sirius was right. The bartender was already headed back their way with four shot glasses full of amber liquid. It was going to be fine. He must not have looked relaxed enough, though, because Sirius grabbed him and pulled him into a one-armed embrace.

"It's fine, Moony. We're just out for a night of fun. You really do worry too much."

"Maybe because with you three around, I'm never for lack of something to worry about." Remus replied, but relaxed into Sirius's hold on him all the same. Even though Sirius seemed to cause most of the trouble, he was also ironically the one to reassure Remus the most in times of need. Remus leaned in to Sirius's firm embrace, and took comfort in his familiar scent. He didn't know if it was because he was a werewolf, or just because he was for some reason awkwardly attuned to his closest friend's scent, but Remus could always _smell_ Sirius. Tonight he had some of his musky, 'special occasion' cologne on, but underneath it was the familiar smell of Sirius's shampoo and laundry detergent and something that was uniquely Sirius himself.

Remus took a moment to ponder if most boys knew so much about how one of their closest friends smelled, and felt when being held, but before he could start defending his thoughts to himself (because the answer was a very definite 'no') the bartender was setting their drinks down in front of them.

"Cheers!" James said with a grin, raising his glass. The others followed suit – Sirius and James took theirs easily, but Remus grimaced a bit at the burn and sharp tang in his mouth. But he refrained from spluttering at least, unlike Peter.

"Another round?" Sirius triumphantly asked, slamming his empty shot glass down on the bar.

"Not too fast, or Remus is gonna cut us off before we can have any fun." James reminded him with a grin at Remus, who returned a wry smile.

Sirius rolled his eyes, but didn't remove his arm from around Remus. "Right, right, we'll wait a bit then, Mr. Party Pooper."

"You'll thank me later." Remus replied, elbowing him with a grin. "When you're dancing or looking at girls or whatever your evening's plans are, rather than being bent over a toilet throwing up. I know how little self-control you two have."

"Fair enough!" James laughed. And it was true – Remus had been in charge of herding them to the bathroom and leaving them to complain and hold each other's hair back or whatever they did in between yarfing on several occasions. Peter usually just passed out and suffered the hangover damages the next morning, but when Sirius and James got excited and competitive they were lucky to make it through the night in one piece.

"Speaking of!" Sirius said. "Why don't we go have a sampling of the dancing and girls? That's what we came for, right?"

"Right!" James enthusiastically agreed.

It wasn't easy getting through the crowds to an ideal place on the floor. It was a Saturday night, so they had to push their way through the mass of people, nearly losing track of each other several times. Remus, being of slighter frame, nearly got bumped completely off track, but was pulled back by Sirius clasping his hand. Not around the wrist, as Remus had with Peter earlier, but a palm-to-palm grasp, fingers entwined. It made Remus's stomach erupt into tingling, squirming nerves, which was stupid, because it was just Sirius.

They broke through the worst of the crowds until they were able to find an area open enough to breathe in, and right alongside one of the raised platforms, where two girls were circling a pole, and each other, sending heady glances all around. James wolf-whistled, and Peter look as though his eyes were going to bug out of his head, but Sirius simply grinned.

"Told you, Moony!" He shouted above the music, swaying with the beat. "Told you this was a good idea!"

It didn't take long for them to lose track of each other. James was only going to go 'just that way a bit', and Peter was just going to stay 'one more minute' at ogling one of the girls on a platform near the corner of the room, and when Sirius started to drag Remus back to the bar for another round to bring everyone, it was already too late. By the time they returned, James and Peter were nowhere to be found among the great mass of writing bodies.

"Ah well, we'll find them eventually!" Sirius commented, seemingly unbothered. He took one of the extra shots, offering the last to Remus, who accepted it only to keep Sirius from becoming too far gone too fast. "Hard keeping a group together in a place like this anyways! Wanna dance?"

For a moment, Remus was taken aback, thinking Sirius was asking him, specifically, but it was short lived, as Sirius indicated the floor and added:

"I mean, there are some pretty good-looking birds out there, and it shouldn't be too hard to charm the pants off them into some bumping and grinding, yeah?"

"Oh." Remus replied, not sure what to say and resorting to speaking without thinking. "Yeah, sure."

He was dragged out onto the dance floor, and, as predicted, it wasn't long before Sirius was able to "charm the pants off of" a girl. She was very pretty, with long lashes, blonde hair styled into attractive waves and curls around her face, and a tight fitting dress. And yet, watching Sirius slide up to her and pull her into a dance that left little room for mistaking the implication, Remus found himself disliking her. It seemed unfounded, but for some reason he just felt as though he would have been happier if Sirius had not found her.

"Hey."

Remus turned to the tap on his shoulder, more than the voice near his ear, to see a rather cute girl smiling at him. "Uh, hi?"

"Wanna dance?"

Remus was so taken aback he almost said no. But he looked at her again, and something about her straight dark hair that swept into her face in a styled, side-swept fringe, and her light eyes, and her lack of intimidatingly large breasts made him change his mind.

"Ah, sure." He replied, and let her drag him closer as she started to move against him.

It was weird. Hogwarts didn't really have school dances except on very special occasions, so Remus felt awkward as all hell next to this girl who obviously expected him to know what he was doing. Her arms were up at his shoulders, so he put his at her waist, marveling at how small it was. Being around his friends, all male, Remus didn't have much experience in touching girls, as he didn't make it common practice to feel them up in the hallways at random. He was used to hard, solid physical contact that was sure and deliberate, and this girl was all soft curves and fluid, gentle touching.

She moved closer, pressing right against him, and Remus tried not to panic. She smelled… too much. Too sweet; she was all perfume and lotion and lip gloss and whatever products she used to get her hair so shiny and straight. It was overwhelming, and he wondered if all girls smelled like that. He tried to imagine how Lily Evans smelled when she sat next to him when he studied with her in the library, and came up short.

This girl – he didn't even know her name – may not have had voluminous breasts, and was in fact rather lacking in that department, but it was still more than he was used to on a chest. He was used to hard and flat, and although the change should have been welcoming, he found them rather cumbersome. They got in the way, and as if sensing his thoughts, she moved even closer, smiling at him encouragingly. He felt her move to straddle his leg as the pulsating music drove their movements, and he suddenly, irrationally was overcome with a panic that she was going to be wet, and that was going to be gross and awkward and very unappealing. She wasn't, of course, but the absurd worry lingered all the same, to the point where he drew away slightly, and she looked up at him in confusion.

"Are you okay?"

She was actually very nice, Remus absently noted, and wondered if the girl who had captured Sirius's attention was equally so. It should have been enough to ease his worries, because Remus was usually very receptive to kindness, but the situation was just all wrong. Her hair was dark and fell in her face in a purposefully attractive and casually messy manner, and her eyes were light and framed by dark lashes, but after that it all started to become a bit dizzy. She had freckles dusted across her nose and upper cheeks. Her hair was right in the front, but too long in the back, and there was just too much of it that he worried he would accidentally snag it. She wasn't straddling him anymore, but her pert breasts were still so close, and so irrationally soft that it worried him to feel them for some reason, as though he might hurt her. She wasn't dressed up in an overly provocative way, but her shirt was just low cut enough to draw attention, and her tight pants were tucked into heeled boots, and it just seemed to look more uncomfortable than anything else to Remus.

"Hey, you alright?"

Remus realized that he still hadn't answered her, and was simply internally flailing and being completely non-responsive, which probably seemed very strange.

"I'm sorry." He said, feeling himself flush in embarrassment. "It's… it's not you, but… I just… I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She said, stepping back, looking embarrassed and hurt. She made to turn away, probably find someone else to dance with, but her expression made Remus grab her by her arm to stop her. She looked at him in confusion, and although he didn't know what to say, he felt compelled to assure her, somehow. He sensed that there weren't many genuinely nice girls in this club, and she seemed to be taking his rejection personally. Maybe she had been feeling just as alone and out of her element as he had.

"What?" She asked, looking on the verge of a pout.

"It really isn't you." Remus said. "You're very pretty, and sweet, and you're not dressed all… well, like the other girls in here."

"Like a slut?"

The corner of her mouth was pulled up in an amused sort of way, and Remus grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah."

She looked at him funny for a second before hesitantly responding. "Look, maybe I'm way off the mark here, but are you, um… you know, not really interested in girls? Just because, from what you're saying, and I saw you with that fit bloke earlier and… well, I guess it would just make me feel a little better about myself if that was the reason, and not something else."

Remus gaped. She was looking properly abashed for the assumption, but seemed a bit hopeful as well. "I…" He started, and faltered, before trying again. "That's not… I have to go. Sorry. Have a nice night."

But from the relieved look on her face, it seemed as though she felt she had gotten her answer.

"Damn it." Remus swore, pushing through the crowd and making his way towards the bar. "Damn it, damn it, _damn it_!" He had known this was a bad idea. Nothing specific, but it was a perfect storm of trouble just waiting to happen, and he had been right. Oh, no one was hurt or in any sort of trouble, but Remus found himself selfishly wishing that that could have been the case instead, because _that_ he could deal with. This… this was unexpected, and troubling for entirely different reasons that Remus wasn't sure how to face.

"Hard cider, please." He asked of the bartender, when the man looked his way. Remus knew better than to get smashed, but for this self-confrontation he was going to need a bit of liquid courage. The two shots of whiskey were still running through his veins, but he wanted something actively contributing, and the physical bottle would be a stabilizing object to cling to.

Remus didn't allow himself to think until his cider had been delivered, and with the first cold sip of the brisk liquid he finally admitted to himself what had him so spooked, relishing the bite and aftertaste of his drink.

That girl was right. Remus hadn't distanced himself from her because she wasn't pretty or nice, but because she was a _girl_. That, Remus told himself with a frown, should have been incentive to keep her close, not push her away. He never had much close physical or emotional contact with girls, with the exception of Lily, who was just a casual classroom friend, and not really like most girls anyway. So why was he not thrilled at the turn of events that put him in a situation that many hot-blooded males would have killed for?

It didn't make any sense, he thought with a frown as he took another swig from his bottle. It should have excited him, not intimidated him. But it had done what it had nonetheless, so much so that the girl had _noticed_, and even gone so far as to suggest…

But maybe he _wasn't_ interested in girls. He listened to Sirius, and James, and even Peter, talk about who they had their eye on, and what sort of conquests they had attempted. The stories were exciting and funny and made him feel so much a part of something, but if he really thought about it, it wasn't the girls that made the boasting and leering so much fun. It was hearing his friends talk and laugh about it amongst each other, just as a group of teenage boys who liked things that teenage boys were supposed to like. It felt familiar and comforting… and overall, very _male_.

That girl… Remus had only started panicking when he started to notice how she was _different_ from what he was used to. The only reason he had said yes to a dance in the first place had been her dark hair and light eyes – she almost a dead ringer for Sirius's features. She had even _implied_ that he was involved with Sirius in some way, because she had seen them together. Was it that obvious?

Head starting to ache, Remus stood, intending to find the bathroom and close himself off into white tile, and silence, and alone-time. It meant pushing through the throngs of drunken club-goers with a bottle in his hand, but Remus plowed ahead, regardless. He knew it should be near the back of the room somewhere, it was just a matter of –

"Remus!"

Stopping and looking around, feeling lost, Remus searched for who had called his name. It could only have been one of three people, of course, but it was hard to tell whose voice it was over the sound of the music, and he wasn't sure exactly what direction the shout had come from, or who to be looking for.

"There you are!" Remus heard, suddenly much closer, and directly to his left. It was Sirius. Of course it was. The very person he was suddenly struggling to come to terms with, what luck. "We've been looking all over for you!"

Remus frowned. "We? I thought you ran off with that…" He trailed off, not trusting himself to not use a rude word for her.

"That breasty blonde?" Sirius filled in with a grin. "Yeah she was fun for a bit, but that ran its course pretty quick. I know better than to sneak off for a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am with the types you find in places like this – no telling what sort of hand-me-down's you'll be getting. I'm all for cheap thrills, but not the kind that linger, you got me? And it's not like she was interesting enough to hang around with for fun. She's just some bird."

Remus found himself wanting to point out that they themselves were a 'type' in a 'place like this', but was too pleased to find Sirius rid of her so that they could go back to Marauder-ing to say anything.

Sirius's hand found Remus's free one, twining their fingers together, and pulled him towards the back of the club, where Remus had been heading in the first place. Remus clutched his bottle of cider close to his chest, and felt his heart flutter pleasantly when Sirius squeezed his hand, pulling them closer together to navigate through the thick crowd gathered near what looked to be a back entrance.

"Hey, didn't I see some girl snatch you up as well?" Sirius suddenly asked, as a belated afterthought. He looked back to catch Remus's eye, and Remus looked down embarrassedly, feeling his insides twist, and his head spin from the alcohol.

"Oh well… she was just some bird." He echoed.

"Too right!" Sirius grinned, pushing through a door.

It was dark out, and Remus's eyes took a moment to adjust to the change. There were a few dingy streetlamps in the corners of what appeared to be a walled-in back patio. James and Peter were leaning against the far wall, drinking deeply from their own bottles. James was holding two, and handed one to Sirius as he and Remus approached.

"So what's the game plan?" James asked brightly, obviously inebriated.

Sirius held up a finger, indicating them to wait for his reply as he took a long swig from his beer. "Well." He said when he'd finished. "I figured we all ought to re-group and see what we want to do from here, and share progress reports."

"I'm drunk!" James proudly announced.

"Yes, we did notice that." Sirius replied with a roll of his eyes. "That it? Haven't been romancing the ladies? Just hitting the bar?"

"Wouldn't be fair to Lily…" James mumbled, and Sirius looked like he was about to start in another one of his tirades of chastising James for keeping after Lily, but Remus intercepted, not wanting them to drunkenly argue with each other.

"What about you, Peter?"

"Oh." The blond said, looking and sounding surprised to be asked before his features broke into a mischievous expression. "Well… I touched some, you know. Some boobs."

Remus, Sirius, and James turned to Peter as one, astonished and disbelieving.

It was Remus who found his voice first. "I'm sorry, you what?"

Peter grinned, more confident now. "I touched a girl's boobs! They were right there, and I've never felt, you know, _boobs_ before! So I did it!"

Silence and astonishment and confusion followed, but this time it was Sirius who found the words to say in response. "Hey Peter…" He said, voice lilting into the unmistakable sound of concealed amusement and faux innocence as a smirk twisted up his lips. "Where'd you get that shiner?"

Upon closer inspection, it appeared as though Peter did have a freshly blooming bruise on his high cheekbone, one that certainly hadn't been there when they had arrived earlier. Peter looked down as he wrung his hands, embarrassed now.

"Well I… I'd gotten pretty close to the stage at the far side of the room. And the girl… she was _beautiful_ you guys, and they were just… she was leaning over, and smiling and winking and dancing, and I just… I reached out and I…"

He didn't need to finish. The others were fully capable of putting the pieces together for themselves, and had erupted into great, gasping peals of laughter. Remus clutched his arms around his heaving stomach as Sirius doubled over, hands on his knees and leaned against Remus for support. James fell over completely, taking a trash can down with him with a loud metal clatter.

"It's not that funny!" Peter shouted indignantly, frowning.

"No, no of course not." Sirius managed to get out between gasps for air. "Not funny at all that you tried to grab a strippers titties like a kid in a candy shop."

The laughter redoubled, and as Remus reached out to support himself with a hand on Sirius's back, he felt so alive, and so perfectly himself, that the previous awkwardness and discomfort of the evening washed away. This was where he belonged, and this was where he was accepted, so why should he worry about anything that some silly girl might think or say? Even if he could admit truth behind it. He didn't need heaving breasts and giggles and too-sweet perfumes to feel completely and utterly surrounded by all the companionship he would ever need.

"Ah Pete, this is why we keep you around." James sighed, pushing his hair out of his face and getting back to his feet. Peter didn't take kindly to the comment if the way he crossed his arms over his chest was any indication, but he knew better than to try and defend himself at that point.

"Alright, well." Sirius began, standing and throwing an arm around Remus's shoulders. "What do you say we go back inside, get another round of drinks, and have another go on the dance floor before they kick us out? One last strip club hurrah, Marauders style?"

"No more splitting up!" James demanded. "Not if we all want to get out of here in one piece, and someone's gotta keep an eye on Peter's sneaky grabby boobie fingers!"

"Hey!" Peter protested, but Sirius waved a hand at him dismissively.

"James is right. We came here for a night of Maraudering, and that can only be done in force. So everybody grab a buddy and let's get back into the party!"

It appeared as though Sirius had already picked Remus as his buddy, whatever that meant, and was grabbing his hand again, pulling him through the throngs of people in between them and the bar. Remus felt a slight tug of James taking hold of the back of his jumper, and thought of what a funny picture they must have made; four young boys linked up like a human train. It seemed childish, if he really thought about it, but since when had they given a care to what other people thought of their exploits?

They made it to the bar without losing each other, and Sirius heartily demanded another round of drinks. They cheered to the night, and to each other, and Remus was finally having an excellent time. They were young, and free, and the world was theirs.

"So!" Sirius said, after they'd downed their drinks, clapping his hands together. "Who's ready to take the floor by storm?"

Some of Remus's newfound confidence and exaltation faded. The prospect of being prodded back into the arms of another girl sounded like a repeat disaster, and his trepidation must have showed on his face, because Sirius's smile dropped into confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Remus smiled sheepishly. "Oh, just… I don't know if the dancing is really my thing…"

"Nonsense!" Sirius exclaimed, pounding the bar. "Moony, you will come and dance even if I have to drag your skinny ass out there myself by force."

Remus gave Sirius a fond but suffering look. "Sirius, really. It's fine…"

James took his cue to step up to the plate. "No more splitting up! We all agreed!"

"That's right!" Sirius said, looking triumphant. "So really, Mr. Moony, you have no choice."

"I really don't…"

"Yes you do!"

"Sirius, it's fine, I'll just…"

"No you won't, and that is that!" Sirius said with finality. "Remus, you are going to dance, and you are going to have fun, and I am personally going to make sure of it. Up you get!"

And Remus really had no choice after that, because Sirius was dragging him by the wrist onto the floor, James following with an excited whoop, tailed closely by Peter. Remus sincerely hoped that Sirius wasn't going to force him upon another unsuspecting random girl. He wasn't sure if he could take that sort of embarrassment again. But as it turned out he was in for embarrassment of an entirely different sort – Sirius suddenly turned to face Remus, grinning, before grabbing the smaller boy around the waist, hauling Remus flush up against him.

"S-Sirius, what are you doing?" Remus stuttered, pressing his hands to Sirius's chest defensively.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "This is called dancing." He said, purposefully pulling Remus closer so that the shorter boy had to raise his hands up to grab instead at Sirius's shoulders, to keep from being squished. "It's something that people do for fun when they go out and there's music!"

Blushing, Remus looked down at his feet in embarrassment. "I know what dancing is." He grumbled. Remus found himself pulled closer once again, and Sirius was smirking at him in a way that made Remus's heart flutter nervously.

"Oh you think you do, do you?" Sirius questioned, moving a hand to Remus's lower back, pressing firmly. "Well we'll see about that."

And see about it he did. Remus found himself pulled into a back-and-forth movement of bodies that was quite a bit more than he thought "dancing" strictly entailed. The speakers were already pumping a steady, pulsating beat through the club that Sirius was rhythmically syncing his movements with, but when the song changed to something with a much more seductive, heavy bass and quicker tempo, it was game over.

It was like suddenly Sirius _knew_ about the conflicted thoughts that Remus had been trying to squash out all evening, and was having none of it. He pulled their bodies flush together, and pushed them apart, before bringing them colliding back together again, running his strong hands up and down Remus's sides, holding onto his waist on occasion. He was smirking, and obviously enjoying himself as their bodies bumped and slid against each other, and Remus was just as absolutely mortified as he was utterly turned on.

"Sirius, I –" he began, but was cut off.

"You're looking good, Remus, don't over-think it."

Remus couldn't tell if Sirius was specifically referring to the dancing, assuming that Remus was still nervous about only _that_, or if the words held a deeper meaning that implied what Sirius wanted Remus to go along with. It didn't help, a moment later, that Sirius slid a leg between Remus's, coaxing them into a slow grind. Remus gasped, absolutely sure that he was going to have a problem hiding his feelings on the matter in a minute or two if that kept up, but Sirius didn't seem bothered in the least.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Remus asked over the music, both trying to extract Sirius's leg from between his, and unable to help pushing into it experimentally. He wondered how drunk Sirius really was, and how aware he could possibly be about the situation he had created, and was in fact _furthering_ with each passing second.

Sirius smirked, moving one hand to grip Remus's hip and guide its motion, and slipping his other to the back of Remus's neck, threading through the hair at his nape. "Course I do." He replied, smooth as could be, as he leaned in closer to whisper in Remus's ear. "I'm seducing you. Is it working?"

Remus gaped, completely unable to tell if Sirius was joking or not, and couldn't have responded even if he had wanted or known how to. But this didn't seem to faze Sirius, who didn't appear to expect an answer, and carried on with grinding and sliding up against Remus. When Sirius's hand tightened in Remus's hair, and tugged lightly, Remus's mouth dropped open in a silent gasp, and he knew now for a fact that it was only a matter of time before Sirius noticed the condition Remus was sporting between his legs.

When Sirius dropped his sweat-soaked forehead to Remus's, leaving their faces mere inches apart, Remus wondered how this had happened, and how it was that it was beyond a doubt the most erotic experience of his life. All of his nighttime fumblings beneath the hem of his pajama bottoms, and the secret viewings of Muggle porn that Sirius had gotten a hold of and screened at James's house while his parents were away didn't hold a _candle_ to this hot and sweaty mess. Remus's fingers interlaced behind Sirius's neck, and deciding to throw caution to the wind he tilted his head up just a fraction, bringing their faces even closer. So close that one more nudge and their lips would be touching…

"You guys!" came a voice, startling Remus out of his fog. He blinked rapidly, spied Peter pushing towards them, and hastily pulled away from Sirius. What had he been _thinking_? They were at a Muggle strip club, for god's sake, right in the middle of public, and he still had no idea if Sirius was joking or not, but judging by the wobble and dazed expression on Sirius's face as they broke apart, it seemed very likely that this was all just a drunken misunderstanding. And Remus had almost… he had nearly…

"Peter?" Sirius slurred. "What are you yelling about? We were in the middle of –"

"But it's James!" Peter desperately wailed, looking distraught.

Instantly Sirius was alert, and Remus could practically see the ghost spirit of his Animagus dog's ears perking attentively.

"Where is he?" Remus asked quickly, concerned as well.

Peter turned and led them across the room, coming up to the bar, where Remus could see a gathered crowd hanging a wide berth around the close end of it.

"Oh no…" Remus said to himself, bracing for what he thought they were going to find.

James was slumped halfway over a bench, dry heaving with gusto, and there was already a splatter of sick beneath him. He looked up, briefly, and spotted them, pushing his glasses back up his face, and attempted a cheery "hey guys!" but was cut off halfway through, as he was sick all over the floor.

"This guy with you?" the bartender asked, looking not at all pleased.

"That's my best mate!" Sirius happily announced, coming up beside James and patting him bracingly on the back. James coughed pathetically.

"Well I'd appreciate it if you'd get him out of my bar." The bartender told him with a growl to the edge of his voice. "Him being sick all over the place isn't doing anything for business."

"We're so sorry." Remus cut in. "We were just about to leave anyways. Here, I'll settle the tab and we'll get him out of here."

Sirius and Peter dragged James out of the club while Remus paid the tab with the Muggle money they'd converted earlier that day – making sure to include a generous gratuity for the trouble. With a final apology, he pushed his way to the door, caught off guard by the cold night air, which came as a bit of a shock after the stuffy hear of the club.

Spotting his friends, Remus made his way over to where they were; James slouched over in a slumping seated position on the curb, leaning into Sirius as Peter stood and attempted to hail a taxi.

"Feeling better?" Remus asked, as James groggily rubbed his eye.

"Th' air helps." He replied, and Sirius chuckled even as he had a hard time maintaining his drunken balance with James's added weight.

"If only Lily could see you now…" he said, in mock-longing.

James attempted a glare as best he could, still looking pale. "You… you hold your tongue about Lily."

Remus anticipated a drunken brawl, but thankfully it was at that moment that Peter called out "Got one!", and a taxi pulled to the curb.

The ride home was jumbled and crowded, but they got in eventually, trying to stay as quiet as they could so as to not wake Mr. and Mrs. Potter even with James and Sirius giggling and fumbling with the latch, and Peter clumsily bumping into things in the dark hall. Remus was still feeling lightly buzzed as well, if his coordination and light-headedness was anything to go by, so after helping James to the bathroom and bed, he gratefully stripped out of his sweaty, smoky clothes collapsed and into his own mattress.

"G'night all." He heard Sirius mumbled from his position face-first in his own pillow on his bed. Peter managed a return grunt, and Remus mumbled something incoherent as well. He worried briefly that he would have trouble falling asleep with all that had taken place over the course of the night troubling his overactive brain, but before he could even begin dwelling on the mishaps and unsettling new revelations, he was fast asleep.

**.o.O.o.**

The next morning came and went without a stir from the four boys sprawled about in various beds in the Potter household, and it was after noon, nearing half past one, that they slowly began to awaken from their slumber. One by one they fought for the bathroom, until eventually they all just shared, using the toilet and showering and brushing teeth co-habitatingly.

"Hey." James called from the shower, poking his wet head out. "Someone pass me a towel."

"Get it yourself, lazy." Sirius retorted, through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"I'm naked in here!" James squawked, indignantly. "Just hand me one, you buggering arsehole!"

"Colourful use of language." Remus complimented, as he dragged a comb through his hair.

"As if we're going to be ogling your scrawny ass." Sirius added.

James huffed in an offended sort of way, and settled for stretching his arm out and announcing: "First person to hand me a towel gets next shower."

Instantly there was chaos, as Sirius, Remus, and Peter attempted to locate a towel. In rare polite form, they had unanimously agreed that it was only right for James to get the first shower, seeing as it was his house, but it was now a battle for second.

"Got one!" Peter yelled, holding his fist up triumphantly. But Sirius was already sprinting to the shower, bonking into the fogged glass paneling in his haste to present James with a towel.

"Your Majesty." He said with an elaborately low, sweeping bow, as he held out the fluffy white fabric.

"Why thank you, lowly peasant." James returned with a smile, before grabbing it up and fluffing his hair. Wrapping it around his waist, he exited, and Sirius shucked his pants in a hurry, eager for the warm water. Remus caught a glimpse of his bare rear, and had to turn his face away, willing himself not to blush like a stupid girl.

"Ahhh… that's better." Sirius sighed contentedly, as the hiss of the shower rushed on once more.

"I'm going down to breakfast." Peter grumbled. "Sirius's showers take _forever_."

It was true, and Peter waddled off down the stairs, followed shortly by James.

"Here." Remus said after he squeezed a glob of toothpaste on his toothbrush, placing a towel on the hanging rack across from the shower. "So you don't get stranded without a towel like James." He knew that if push came to shove, Sirius would have no hang-ups about exiting the shower nude, and rummaging around for one on his own, and Remus wanted to spare himself the embarrassment of being unable to help peeking on Sirius's naked body again.

"Thanks, Moony!" Sirius replied, his voice sounding a bit muffled and echoing from behind the frosted glass paneling. "You always were my favourite."

Remus rolled his eyes, because he knew Sirius was just saying that, but couldn't help a pleased blush from dusting his cheeks all the same. "Flattery will get you nowhere." He quipped around his toothbrush.

"Or everywhere, depending." Sirius replied. Remus could see his vague outline through the shower, and he rushed with his toothbrushing, trying to get it done quickly so he could leave and stop thinking weird thoughts. But Sirius made that impossible by continuing with "So how did you like last night? Fun, eh? Got the hangover of the century to prove it."

Oh. So they were going to talk about it, then? Remus still wasn't sure how much Sirius was intending last night's events to be taken in seriousness, and how much of it was in jest, or how much he even remembered for that matter, so he decided to proceed with caution.

"Well we're all still alive and in one piece." He replied casually. "And I suppose it was a bit of fun to go out. How about you?"

"Oh, 'a bit of fun' my arse! It was bloody fantastic, as far as my memory serves!" Sirius laughed, and Remus's stomach tightened nervously before Sirius continued. "However, my memory only serves so well, thanks to all those drinks… I have a few missing patches, but that's a sure sign of a good time, right Moony?"

Remus let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. So Sirius didn't remember it all, then. Wondering why that made him feel torn between released and disappointed, Remus managed a quick "I suppose so" before scurrying out of the bathroom and down to a hearty Potter breakfast. He made a very valiant effort at distracting himself with his eggs and marmalade-smattered toast, but when Sirius finally joined them at the table – hair ruffled and slightly damp, a fresh grin plastered on his handsome face – Remus knew that he was fighting a losing battle.

It was looking like it was going to be a very long, confusing summer holiday.

**.o.O.o.**


	2. we can burn brighter than the sun

_Here's part two of two! Note that the rating has shifted up from T to M because of... reasons... that I did not initially foresee in plotting this out, but which sort of... happened anyway. Boy luvvin' reasons. So there's that. ANYWAY, thank you so much for reading! Happy Leap Day! (Is it way nerdy that I specifically planned for this rare post date, so that this fic would always show up as completed on the special occasion of 02/29? Is it EXTRA nerdy that this is not the first time I have done this for a fic posting date?)_

**.o.O.o.**

Over the next few days, Remus kept an eye on Sirius to see if any more hints about how much of the particular events of the night out he might remember would surface, but soon enough it became clear that if Sirius remembered the flirting and seduction and… _touching_, he certainly wasn't going to let on about it. Sirius _did_ seem to touch him and ruffle his hair a bit more than usual, but that was just playful, _friend_-like interaction, and nothing to get suspicious over, wasn't it? The Marauders parted ways at the end of the week, not wanting to impose upon the Potter's hospitality for too long (with the exception of Sirius, who was staying longer due to "family quabbles").

The summer dragged by with long, dull days while Remus was at home. He loved his parents dearly, and he loved time to himself to read and do his summer homework, but ever since their night out, he found that too much time to himself led to confusing thoughts about Sirius, and what Remus felt, specifically, towards him. He felt embarrassed and guilty for his less-than-platonic musings, as if somehow he would insult Sirius with them, but they remained nonetheless, and quite prominently at that. Remus comforted himself with the assurance that Sirius didn't know, and hoped that even if he somehow _did_, in the unfortunate future, that their friendship would be strong enough to stand up to the awkwardness.

Everything took a nosedive for the worse as the first full moon away from his friends approached. Remus would never be fully accustomed to the physical and emotional torture of the change, but he was usually at least somewhat prepared for the horrifying routine.

This time, the routine was broken.

Perhaps it was because Remus had, admittedly, had Sirius on his mind more than usual already, but whatever the cause, there was no denying that in the days approaching the full moon, Remus's thoughts toward his friend turned from something ruefully curious to something… much more devious. Remus could admit, at least to himself, that he had an embarrassing habit of becoming frustratingly hot and bothered more than usual as the full moon approached even during the best of times – probably something to do with hormone and chemical imbalances surging in his teenage body in preparation for the change – but the occurrence had never been so… so insistently ravenous before.

He tried, he really did, to keep his wandering hands from jerking roughly to thoughts of Sirius, but just so much as an errant thought or a familiar sound or smell would set him off, and he would feel helpless to do anything but wank himself raw to fantasies of Sirius pressed against him, enveloping him, overpowering him, whispering wicked things into his ears and sliding his hands absolutely _everywhere_ on Remus, leaving nothing untouched. And Remus would come so hard, gasping and clawing at his sheets, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. Laying in the aftermath, panting, he felt like such a wretched friend, thinking such lewd and lustful thoughts about his _friend_, who he would never be able to look straight in the eye ever again, he just _knew_ it. But before long he would feel the itch again, and his skin would grow heated and tingly, and with a groan of submission he would allow himself to be overcome once more.

He couldn't say he was _glad_ for the full moon's arrival, but it was a bit of a relief to have the reins to his self-control back in his own hands once again, when it had come and gone.

However, this time the full moon's change had transformed something more than flesh and fur in him, it seemed, because even after it was through he still couldn't keep his mind from supplying steamy imaginary scenarios involving himself and Sirius and very little clothing.

The summer was drawing to a close before the Marauders all got together again. Remus had seen both James and Peter, and even Lily once, separately a few times since their night out, but that had been all, until he got a letter one morning over breakfast from James, inviting him over again for the last weekend before school started. Fumbling for a quill, Remus sent back a hasty reply ("_Yes, please_!") with James's owl, and only belatedly realized that he would be confronting Sirius again for the first time since his… newly developed feelings. Unsure how to feel about that, but unable to recall the owl, Remus sealed himself for the inevitable, and tried very hard to convince himself that it wouldn't be obvious and awkward unless he _let it be_ as he packed his overnight bag.

That Friday, Remus met up with James, Peter, and Sirius in Diagon Alley, where they all gave each other hearty greetings and manly half-hugs-half-pounds-on-the-back. Which was as usual, of course, but Remus couldn't help the flutter in his chest when Sirius pulled him in, ruffling Remus's hair before he would let him go.

The low, "Missed you, Moony" that Sirius murmured into Remus's ear, unheard by the others, didn't help matters either.

"Let's get this shopping business done quickly," James was saying as Sirius and Remus pulled apart, and he was grinning with a strange glint in his eye, "so that we can get back home. I have _excellent_ news, and plans and plots to share!"

They all bothered him relentlessly to share his secrets, of course, but James was uncharacteristically mum on the subject, though he did keep that manic spark in his eyes the whole time, rather than tiring of their pestering. Remus was the first to give up asking, because although he was desperately curious about what could have gotten James worked up like this, he knew that James was possibly the most stubborn out of all of them, and if he had decided to wait on telling them, nothing was going to drag it out of him until he was ready.

"You wanker, James!" Sirius said in exasperation some time later, as they exited Flourish & Blotts with their course textbooks for the year. "I'll bet you don't have anything important at all. You're just trying to rile us up!"

Remus knew this tactic, of course – Sirius was trying to challenge James into a corner and force him to give up his big surprise, but apparently James recognized it too, for he simply grinned and wagged a finger teasingly at Sirius.

"Ah ah ah!" James chided. "Not falling for that one, old boy! Good try, though!"

Huffing in frustration, and seemingly put out by the fact that his best friend wouldn't show a little favouritism, Sirius slipped to Remus's side, throwing an arm around his slender shoulders, and telling James "Fine then, be like that. I've always liked Remus better anyway."

A warm flush went through Remus at the sentiment – calculated taunt though it was – and the pleasant weight across his neck. He couldn't help but move closer into Sirius's half-embrace, hoping he could get away with passing it off as simply settling the added weight and their new position. Although Sirius grinned at him in acknowledgement, the only move he made was to shift closer and more comfortably as well.

Sirius kept the favouritism for the whole rest of their time in Diagon Alley, long after Remus thought he would grow tired of the game, or the strain of his arm at least, but the only time Sirius moved away was when they needed to go single file through doorways, or shop aisles, or particularly crowded areas. And even then, Sirius's presence remained close… a hand at the small of Remus's back, or a finger tugging through Remus's belt loops.

"So how's your summer been during the long, endless days away from me?" Sirius asked with a grin, as they headed back to a predetermined meeting point so that Mr. and Mrs. Potter could take them back home. Remus flushed in embarrassment, thinking of how he had spent those long, endless days, but there was no way for Sirius to _know_, and he wasn't about to let suspicion rise any more than possible, so he shrugged nonchalantly, careful not to dislodge Sirius's hold on him.

"Oh, alright." He replied. "Didn't do anything much. Finished my summer homework, which I'm sure you haven't done yet, and _no_ you may not copy!" Sirius looked mock-affronted at the very suggestion, and spluttered something about "_me? I would never __**dream **__of such a thing_" even though Remus and he both knew that Remus would be handing over his answers before the end of the weekend.

"Well I missed you for more than your homework, you know." Sirius quietly and firmly informed Remus, and Remus felt his heart flutter wildly in chest.

"There they are!" James was shouting, spying his parents, waiting to escort them home. He pushed forward eagerly, obviously impatient to get back home so that he could divulge his great surprise, whatever it was.

Before long, all four boys were piling into James's room, throwing their bags and purchases aside haphazardly in their haste to get down to business. James paced with energy as he closed and locked his doors and blinds, gesturing for Remus, Sirius, and Peter to settle themselves down for the announcement, which they did. And if Remus sat a bit closer to Sirius than normal, who could blame him?

"Gentlemen." James finally announced, puffing his chest up importantly. "I have made a breakthrough." He paused dramatically for a moment to allow them to wonder what kind of a breakthrough he was referring to, before elaborating. "Through constant diligence, cleverness, and charm, I have been carrying out promising summer correspondence with one Lily Evans. We, in fact, have plans for this very night."

"NO!"

"You're joking!"

"You _dog_, are you serious?"

With much puffing and preening, James deigned to tell them how he had begun sending Lily letters midway through the summer, shortly after their night out, and although they had at first been returned with very short, scathing replies, Lily had gradually begun replying more thoughtfully, and with more detail, and from there, the rest had been history. Of course, that wasn't enough for Sirius, who was immediately jumping on James with investigative determination.

"That all sounds a little too good to be true – let's see the letters, then!"

"As _if!_" James shot back with a laugh. "They're good and hidden, so that you lot can't be grabbing all over them with your filthy paws, making a horrifying spectacle of their contents!"

Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh, they're _those_ kinds of letters, are they?" he replied, immediately moving to the bed, and attempting to lift up the mattress to search for them.

"Sirius, stop messing up my bed!" James told him, although he made no move to stop him, Remus noticed, which he surely would have if the letters had actually been hidden there.

Giving up, Sirius flopped the mattress back into place and turned his attention back to James, defiant. "How do we know you're not making all of this up, then? The proof is in the pudding, and all that." He said. James rolled his eyes.

"I _told_ you that we had plans for tonight, didn't I?" he explained with exaggerated patience. "So there's you pudding, you mutt!"

Settling himself back down next to Remus, Sirius seemed at odds. Surely part of him was undoubtedly insanely curious about what James had planned, but the other part of him seemed to be feeling upset and left out for being left in the dark for the plotting of a secret adventure for once. Remus struggled to resist the urge to touch him in consolation for a brief moment before losing his own battle, and reaching out to pat Sirius's knee comfortingly. Sirius 'humph'ed grumpily, but scooted closer all the same, making Remus's heart rate escalate. He thought about just leaving his hand on Sirius's knee, to see if he could get away with it, when –

"Wait…" Peter cut in loudly, startling Remus and causing him to jerk his hand back in surprise. "If you have plans with Lily, what did you invite us over for?"

James looked smug. "Well I'm glad you asked, Wormtail! Because it just so happens that you are coming too!" He threw a glance to Remus, then Sirius. "And you, and I suppose it would be rude not to invite you too."

At this, Sirius could no longer pretend to sulk. "What do you mean, we're coming too? Isn't this supposed to be like a date?"

James fidgeted slightly, and suddenly Remus caught on. "Lily wouldn't agree to a one on one date, I imagine." He said with a wry smile. "So she's going to bring a friend or two along, and told James he could as well."

Grinning, Sirius leaned forward eagerly. "That true, Jamesie?"

Flushing in embarrassment and scowling at them as a whole, James crossed his arms over his chest indignantly. "You lot shut up and listen to the plan before I change my mind about letting you come along."

**.o.O.o.**

After dinner – which all four boys fidgeted impatiently through, until they were excused early just to get them out of Mr. and Mrs. Potter's hair – the Marauders quickly got ready for their night out. Apparently James had arranged with Lily for the four of them to Floo over, so after quickly changing out of their robes and into some casual clothing that wouldn't be amiss for going out into Muggle public, they lined up at the Potter's fireplace, ready to go. James couldn't stop grinning like an idiot, and Remus noticed that this seemed to damper Sirius's mood just slightly. Obviously he was eager for a fun night, but was at the same time feeling a bit left out, since this night was obviously about James and Lily, rather than just the Marauders. As well, Remus reminded himself, although James would certainly never replace Sirius as his best friend, it wouldn't be hard for Sirius to feel as though it was that way.

"Hey." Remus said gently, nudging Sirius as James stepped though the Floo. "Tonight's going to be fun, huh?" Sirius smiled, and then grinned at that, and Remus felt his chest surge with happiness and warmth, to have Sirius so pleased with him.

"You're right, Moony." Sirius said, as Peter went along after James. "No bird is going to keep us from having one last Marauders hurrah! All the same, James may be a little distracted tonight… will you do me the honour of being my date for this evening?"

Remus blanched as Sirius held out his arm and grinned winningly, not sure if he was actually supposed to take it or not. These were the sorts of things that Remus had trouble processing from Sirius – was he serious in his flirtations, or was it just a game? Remus dearly wanted to play along and see how far it could go, but worried that if he seemed too eager, and took Sirius too seriously, that his friend would recoil in confusion and disgust, only having meant his words and actions in jest. In the end, Remus simply nervously stuttered "Get through the Floo already, you're holding up the line!" and slapped Sirius's arm away playfully. With a flash of green, and a departing wink, Sirius was gone, leaving Remus to collect himself as best he could, unless he wanted to muck up Lily's address and end up who-knew-where.

But he got the address correct, and was dragged out of the fireplace by Sirius's strong arms hauling him forward and into a cozy, tidy living room where James and Peter were waiting, along with Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"That all of you?" Mrs. Evans inquired warmly. "Right then, Lily and her friends are just finishing up in her room, you can head up and let them know you're here if you'd like! Lily's is the room at the end of the hall, on the left."

James immediately nodded with a polite "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans!" before hurrying away to the stairs; Peter, James, and Remus right on his heels.

"Behave yourselves, boys!" Mr. Evans called after them, not unkindly, but James looked nervous at the warning all the same.

They arrived at the upstairs landing just in time to see a sour looking girl spying on them from what must have been her bedroom, for as soon as she was aware of the fact that she had been spotted by the Marauders, she ducked back and slammed the door in its frame.

"Who was that?" Peter asked nervously.

"Don't know, don't care." James replied, obviously too intent on getting to Lily to spare a thought for anyone or anything else.

James approached the door with confidence, putting up with the barrier long enough to knock three quick raps in succession before grabbing at the handle and tugging the door open. Instantly the air was filled with shrieks, and James retreated, wide eyed, as he was assaulted with a barrage of verbal assault, as well as a shoe and a hairbrush. The door slammed shut, and a high pitched exchange could be heard taking place.

"What happened?" Peter asked in shock, and James shook his head in shock.

"I… I don't know."

The four boys huddled awkwardly, not sure what to make of the situation. After half a minute or so, the door creaked open, and Lily stuck her head out, red hair casually but attractively styled, and a frown set firmly in place.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners? You don't just barge into a girl's room! You have to knock first!" She admonished.

"I did knock!" James protested. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well next time, wait more than half a second before storming in!" She told him, before looking back over her shoulder. "Emma didn't have her skirt zipped up yet!"

Their eyes boggled at the sudden knowledge of how close they had been in proximity to an undressed girl, and the Marauders, for a moment, were left speechless. But then, Sirius couldn't help himself.

"How much did you see, James?" he stage whispered, grinning mischievously.

"Oh, stop it!" Lily chided, finally pulling the door open. "Anyway, we're ready now, let's get going."

Two girls that Remus vaguely recognized as Lily's fellow Muggleborn friends from school hesitantly followed Lily out of her room, looking wary of the Marauders. One had long chocolate brown hair and large, doe-like eyes, and the other had shoulder-length dark blonde, very straight hair, and a smattering of freckles across her nose. They were both rather cute, and although Remus was worried that Sirius might start trying to pick one or the other or both up, Sirius just seemed mildly interested in seeing them, at best. Introductions were made quickly ("Emma, Piper – James, Sirius, Remus, Peter. Now let's go!") and they all headed down the stairs again, Lily kissing her mother and father briefly in parting, before leading everyone out to the drive.

"We're taking my dad's Station Wagon." She told them, pulling a pair of keys out of her bag. "It'll be a bit cramped, but we'll manage."

_Cramped_ was right. They all fit into the Muggle car alright, even without magical enlargement on the interior, but it was most definitely a snug fit. Lily was driving, and her two friends were able to squish together in the front with her in the comfortable way that girls were able to accomplish without any awkwardness, but it was a different story in the back seat. No one was in anyone else's lap, per se, thanks to the wide, family design of the vehicle, but Remus was pressed quite bodily up against Sirius, one leg nearly overlapping one of Sirius's, and Sirius's arm was thrown around Remus's shoulders again. Remus was hyper aware of every centimeter of their bodies that touched as the car ride jostled them into one another over every speed bump and pothole.

They were going to a "drive in", which was a form of Muggle entertainment that Remus had heard of before, but never experienced. The others had struggled to comprehend it, and wondered why they were doing something so Muggle, but James had been insistent – he was sure that this was some sort of test on Lily's part; putting him through her Muggleborn paces to see how he reacted. Remus couldn't help but agree. Lily was clever like that, and after her recent falling out with Severus over what she would only divulge as "ethical differences", along with Severus's new group of very shady friends at school, Remus thought the puzzle pieces fit together quite tellingly.

"Oh _no_!" one of the girls wailed, about fifteen minutes into the drive, startling everyone, and causing James in particular to jolt, as he had been trying to very discreetly touch Lily's hair from the seat directly behind her.

"What the hell is it?" Sirius barked, looking from side to side, aghast at the outburst that didn't seem to have any logical prompting.

"Sirius don't be rude!" Lily snapped, not taking her eyes off the road. "What's wrong, Piper?"

"I left my wallet at home!" she whined. "Do we have time to go back for it?"

Lily frowned. "I don't think so… but I think we can spot you, does everyone have a little extra to chip in for Piper?"

"Uh…" Remus began, suddenly realizing a problem. From the looks on Sirius, James, and Peter's faces they had all just come to the same realization. "We, er, didn't think to bring any Muggle money at all, actually. So… no."

"Are you guys kidding?" Lily retorted, sounding exasperated. "We can't cover all of you! James, I _told_ you what our plans were, why didn't you guys stop and transfer some money before you came over?"

James's face looked horror-stricken, for having failed Lily in such a very obvious way, and Remus looked to Sirius for help. However, Sirius just shrugged, looking as lost as Remus felt. Surprisingly, it was Peter who came up with a suggestion.

"Can't some of us just… sneak in?"

After a lot of hemming and hawing from the girls, who didn't want to get in trouble, Lily eventually decided that there really was no other way for it. They calculated out what they had, and deduced that with their combined Muggle currency they could cover everyone except two.

"Alright then." Lily told them with lips pursed and brows furrowed in concentration. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right, and we're _not going to get caught_." The last part seemed to be directed at James, who Lily had apparently chosen to hold accountable for the situation at hand. "Two of you will have to get behind the back seat, and we'll put the seat throw-blankets over you. Don't so much as _breathe_ when we're getting the tickets and radio, you hear me? So decide among yourselves who it's gonna be."

After some brief squabbling, it was eventually decided that Sirius and Remus were to share the fate of being squashed in the back area – James got out of it because it was thanks to him that they were even invited, and Peter's bid for immunity was that he had been the one to suggest the idea of sneaking in the first place – and although Remus was not claustrophobic by any means, he was getting a twisting feeling in his stomach at the prospect of being squished up under blankets with Sirius.

Sirius, for his part, seemed to be taking things in stride, climbing over the back seat, settling down and pulling Remus down between his legs and against his chest with a grin that bordered on a leer.

"Cuddle up, Moony." He crooned, ruffling Remus's hair affectionately.

Remus was _mortified_, and James's parting comment of "try not to get too frisky back there, you two!" as he covered them with a patterned blanket did not help matters one bit. Remus hoped he could blame the flush rising to his cheeks on the stuffiness of being under the blanket.

"Comfy?" Sirius whispered, and although Remus couldn't see him, he could still hear the grin in his voice.

"Oh, shut up." Remus shot back uncomfortably, as he tried to squirm into a less compromising position. There were, unfortunately, none to be found. No matter how he shifted, he was pressed right up against Sirius, their bodies flush against each other in close proximity that he had not experienced since their fateful night in the club, and the more he squirmed the more friction he caused between them, so that was just going to have to stop before he embarrassed himself.

"Settle down, it's just me." Sirius told him, reassuringly. Remus dearly wanted to mutter back that _that_ was the problem, but refrained. "Here," Sirius was continuing "Lemme help."

Before Remus could protest, Sirius was scooting down further, until he was nearly flat on his back, pulling Remus atop him. Remus, although self-conscious, could not deny that it felt _wonderfully_ comfortable. Sirius was solid beneath him, and their chests and hips fit together comfortably, and Remus was left between choosing to lay his head in the crook of Sirius's neck, or to prop himself up on his elbows to give at least a little space between their faces. Although the first option was _very_ appealing, Remus chose the second. Sirius folded his arms behind his head, settling in.

"So… this is nice." Sirius said, to fill the silence.

"Sorry if I'm heavy." Remus replied, embarrassed, as he took Sirius's comment as a tease. He went to squirm again, but Sirius stopped the attempt by wrapping his arms around Remus and holding him still.

"You're fine." Sirius said, in fact going to far as to haul Remus up a little, which brought them even closer together. "Not heavy at all. In fact, I could stay like this all night."

Remus's mouth dropped open in surprise, unsure how on earth he was supposed to reply to _that_, when he was saved the trouble of figuring out what to say by Lily's furious whisper. "You two shut up back there! There'll be plenty of time to feel each other up once we're inside!"

Remus could have _died_.

"Too bad we're not going to let you watch, you pervert!" Sirius stage-whispered back, before chuckling and settling back down. He cupped his hand around Remus's ear, and his voice was so quiet that surely no one else would hear him this time – Remus only barely caught the words himself, focused more on the warm puffs of breath against his temple. "Time to be quiet now, Moony. We can be loud about feeling each other up later, though."

Allowing himself a shaky sigh, Remus let Sirius pull his down from his elbows to rest his face on Sirius's chest, making them a less conspicuous lump under the blankets. Lily could be heard organizing the money as they pulled to a stop in the line for tickets and the radio, but it was all a distant background hum, drowned out by the closeness and heat of Sirius's body. Remus tried to rationalize Sirius's behavior, and comfort level with bringing their bodies flush together with no perceptible awkwardness, but he kept going in circles. It would have been impossible to fake such nonchalance, but there was really just no way that Sirius could really _mean_ it, could he?

As the car pulled up to the booth, and Lily counted out passengers and fare (minus two), Remus became aware of the fact that Sirius was very lightly rubbing his thumb up and down over the small of Remus's back, where his hand lay to hold them together. Embarrassingly, he knew that Sirius could feel his inaudible gasp and the quickening of his heartbeat, but there was really nothing he could do about it without blowing their cover completely at this point. If he even _wanted_ to do anything about it, which he still wasn't sure he did, other than to ease his racing nerves. Sirius's chest rose and fell steadily under his own, and Remus wondered vaguely if this was all just a very wonderfully confusing dream.

All too soon, the car was being pulled into a slot and put in park, and before Remus could even think of anything to break the tension and ease a transition back into normalcy, Lily was giving the all clear and James yanked the blankets up, looking vindictively gleeful at how he found them.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" He laughed, and Peter poked his head over the back seat to look at well, his grin quickly fading into an embarrassed blush.

"None of your business, that's what." Sirius shot back, a slightly irritated bite to his words that Remus couldn't quite place and that James did not hesitate to pick up on.

"Just kidding around, mate." He said, rolling his eyes and turning back around. Remus took this as his cue to make a hasty escape, and disentangled himself from Sirius's grasp, fighting the rush of blood to his face when Sirius's hands slid heavily down his back and over his rear.

Lily diligently hooked up the radio to the car, as her two friends exited for a trip to the concession stand.

"But they don't have any money?" Peter wondered, looking longingly at the posters advertising popcorn, soda, and candy. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh please." She said, tossing her hair back. "As if they're not capable of flirting some poor dumb boy into getting their snacks for them."

"I could get you snacks!" James immediately announced. Lily gave him a fond, put-out look.

"You don't have any money. But thanks."

Sirius had settled himself next to Remus in the wide back seat, casually throwing a long arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close, and Remus wondered why no one else seemed to be noticing the extent of Sirius's actions. Surely he wasn't imagining things? But no one else seemed to find anything amiss, so Remus willed himself to relax and stop overthinking things.

"Hey Lily? You mind if we don't stay in your car?" one of Lily's friends was saying, popping her head back in. "We found these guys, and…"

"You're just going to leave me here with the boys?" Lily asked, sounding betrayed. "Ugh, I should have figured. Go have fun, you floozies!"

"Thanks Lils!"

James took this as his golden opportunity, and hopped up into the front seat with Lily, who only protested mildly before allowing it. Finally, with a whir of the projector, the screen was lighting up before them, casting an attractive flickering light over Sirius's face beside Remus that he had a hard time ignoring. Sirius caught him looking, and Remus instinctively wanted to look away, but figured that would be suspicious in and of itself, so instead covered with the first thing he could think of to say.

"Where's Peter, do you think?"

Sirius shrugged, his arm brushing across Remus's shoulders as he did so. "Who knows? Probably begging for handouts at the snack stand."

"You two," James said in a hard voice, turning around and fixing them both with a _look_, "Had better not talk through the whole thing." He punctuated this demand with a meaningful look towards Lily in the driver's seat. Sirius made obnoxiously loud, over-exaggerated kissing sounds, and James glowered at him, mumbling a venomous _'wanker'_ under his breath as he turned back around and tried to inconspicuously scoot closer to Lily.

In the dark glow of the screen, Sirius shuffled on the seat to get a better view, having no qualms with taking up most of the back seat, since it seemed Peter wasn't coming back anytime soon. Remus briefly thought about going to look for him, as a friend, but then Sirius was pulling him closer again, so that he was leaning against Sirius's side. _"So we can see around James's enormous head"_ he whispered with a grin.

"Sirius, what –" Remus started in a whisper, but he was shushed before he could finish.

"Don't worry about it, Moony." Sirius whispered in his ear. "Just go with it."

Unsure of what that was supposed to mean, Remus nonetheless complied. He had seen movies before, but this appeared to have been Sirius's first, because he was utterly captivated by the screen, infectious in his delight. The movie was some new popular saga about good versus evil in space, and Sirius couldn't seem to get enough, fascinated by the loud sounds and bright colours and moving pictures. Remus admitted that although it was interesting, it wasn't half as worth investing his attention to as his friend right beside him, who may or may not have been trying to put the moves on him. So, as Sirius had suggested, he just went with it, and enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

Sirius couldn't keep still, or quiet, and dragged Remus along for his incessant behavior as well, constantly whispering questions about how the Muggles made the effects, or commenting on a line of cheesy dialogue, or shoving Remus excitedly during action scenes. By the time the movie finished, and the dramatic music played and the end credits rolled, Sirius was completely wound up. In the last moment before the drive-in overhead lights came on, he turned to Remus in the flickering blue glow and gave him a brilliant smile.

"That was fantastic!" he gushed, pulling Remus around the shoulders for emphasis. "We've got to do this again sometime!"

"So you liked it, then?" Lily's voice suddenly cut in from the front seat as she twisted around to look back at them, smiling. Remus blinked in surprise – he had nearly forgotten that she and James were there.

"It was great!" Sirius said. "Who knew Muggles could be so brilliant?"

"Keep it down about the Muggles, mate." James said warningly, looking around to see if anyone could have overheard, but Sirius was too busy pretending to slice Remus to bits with a laser, silly sounds and wild gestures included, to pay attention to him. Remus shoved him back playfully, grinning at the antics.

"Well it's still not too late, only about 9 o'clock." Lily said, looking at her watch. "Piper and Emma will be back here shortly, and we'll have to find Peter, and then did you want to go to the roller rink? They have an arcade."

"What's an arcade?" came a voice from somewhere outside, and Remus frowned curiously, scooting over to his half-rolled-down window and peering out. There sat Peter, looking perfectly calm for someone sitting out in the dark on the ground.

"What the bloody hell are you doing out there?" Sirius demanded, crowding Remus at the window. "Were you out there this whole time?"

"Yeah, well…" Peter began, looking both irritated and embarrassed. "I got back from the snack stand and you four were all coupled up and cuddling. Would have been awkward."

"We weren't cuddling." Lily defended, automatically. James looked disheartened for a moment before catching on to the implications of Peter's statement and turning around with a smug grin.

"You guys were cuddling?" He said, trying to play innocent, but his voice was strained with contained mirth.

Remus opened his mouth to defend the situation, in case it made Sirius feel weird to have been caught (because really… they _had_ been cuddling, even if Sirius probably would have picked a manlier word to describe it) but he was cut off.

"Jealous, much?" Sirius simply said, smirking.

That shut James up quite effectively, and he glared at Sirius. He looked like he was about to say something in retaliation, but was hampered by the arrival of Lily's missing girl friends, who were giggling at nothing, arms linked companionably.

'Have fun, you two?" Lily asked with a smirk, elbowing James to get him out of the front seat. "We were thinking about going to the arcade for a while, that sound good?"

After getting everyone arranged into the car once more – James grumbling over being kicked into the backseat once more – they headed to a local roller rink and arcade, explaining what it was to Peter and Sirius. James, apparently, knew what they were from reading a Muggle comic book series.

The roller rink was only a short drive away, so thankfully the four Marauders only had to deal with being crammed all together in the back seat for a minimal period of time. Remus certainly didn't mind being pressed up against Sirius, but the door handle jamming into his other side was not nearly as pleasant. As soon as Lily had the car parked, James was clambering out the door and to Lily's side, leaving Peter, Sirius, and Remus to follow. Sirius reached over Remus to pull the door on his side open, and the brief moment of being leaned over and fumbled against made Remus draw in a breath that he hoped Sirius didn't notice.

"After you, mademoiselle!" Sirius ushered, mock-courteously, as he gestured for Remus to exit.

"Stupid." Remus muttered back, elbowing Sirius endearingly and unable to not grin at the teasing.

As it turned out, the roller rink was large, full of fun Muggle activities of all kinds, and a very popular place to go after the movies. There were a few lingering parents with primary school children, but for the most part the place was filled with Muggles their own age, laughing and skating and playing the arcade games in noisy groups. Remus had never been to a roller rink before, and there were only a few small, dingy arcades near where he lived when he was younger, and he grinned broadly at the lights and sounds. He turned to look at the others, who looked fit to burst from excitement.

"This is amazing!" Sirius exclaimed, looking around at the surroundings with eagerness. "Muggles sure do come up with creative ways to entertain, don't they?"

"This is way better than that club!" Peter agreed, eyeing the claw machine and flashing Atari systems.

Lily frowned, confused. "Club? What are you talking about?"

James's eyes went wide in panic, and he raised his hands, gesturing frantically that Peter should _shut up right now if he knows what's good for him_, but Peter didn't seem to understand, and opened his mouth to say more.

"Let's go rent those rolley skates!" Sirius cut in, clapping his hands together decisively. "Lead the way, Evans, I'm sure you're just dying to show off about more things that you know and we don't."

Huffing indignantly, but dropping the inquiry about the club, Lily lead the way to a counter on the opposite side of the entry, flanked on either side by her girl friends.

"Pads, I could _kiss you_." James whispered earnestly. "Right after I clobber Pete within an inch of his life."

Laughing, Sirius clapped James on the shoulder. "Better not risk it." He returned. "Evan's been thrown off the scent of your infidelity once, you might not be so lucky again!"

"Oh shut up." James shot back, rolling his eyes, and shoving Sirius away. Huffing indignantly, Sirius pretended to be scorned.

"Alright then, I didn't want to be your dirty secret anyway." He snipped, turning his nose up.

As a group, the Marauders and Lily and her friends crowded the counter, shouting shoe sizes at the harassed-looking employees behind it. Peter got his size wrong a time or two and kept having to return his skates for a different pair, but the others moved to the benches and began to lace up.

"Sirius, you're doing it all wrong." Remus noted, unsure how Sirius had managed to get his laces into such a tangled mess.

"Am not." Sirius shot back, making even more of a mess out of the mangled laces. But after another frustrating moment or two he seemed to give up, tossing his hands up in exasperation. "These stupid Muggle things are absolutely –"

"Sirius!" Remus shushed, because Sirius's loud aggravation was drawing a few interested looks in their direction. "It's fine, they're just laces, I'll fix them for you."

While James and Peter finished up their skates and wobbled awkwardly after the girls (who had tightened and laced their skates easily) onto the rink, Remus swiftly moved to his knees in front of Sirius on the bench, unlacing the skates entirely, before pulling them taut and re-stringing them slowly and carefully.

"Honestly Sirius, they're not that hard." He chided, looping a lace through its proper fastening. "You just have to string them in one at a time, haven't you ever laced up boots before? I know you have a pair, those posh things you wear in the winter when we go out for romps in the snow. You just have to have a bit of patience with it, see?" He glanced up at Sirius, having finished one skate, planning on moving onto the other after brief confirmation that Sirius was paying attention. But the look Sirius was giving him was odd, and he was being uncharacteristically silent. "Sirius?"

Smirking, Sirius seemed to shake off whatever fixated study he had been doing of Remus, and leaned back on his arms on the bench. "Just enjoying the view, Moony. Carry on."

Remus flushed, embarrassed as he realized what his position on his knees in front of his very smug and comfortable looking friend looked like. "Very mature." He shot back in exasperation. "I ought to let you tackle the last one by yourself, for that." Sirius's eyes widened in alarm and he reached out to grab Remus's upper arm as Remus moved to stand up.

"Just teasing!" He amended, grinning warmly in an effort to redeem and endear himself. Grudgingly, Remus had to admit that it worked, and he settled back down and busied himself with the second skate's lacing. "But you should know," Sirius continued a minute later, just as Remus finished pulling the laces into a snug knot to finish them off, "That you look very good down there, applying yourself to your task like that."

Mouth dropping open in silent shock, Remus looked up to confirm that he had, in fact, just heard what he thought he heard Sirius say. But with a wink, Sirius simply pushed himself up, and unsteadily made his way to the gate for the rink, beckoning Remus over with a quick jerk of his head to gesture to the smooth surface. "Come on then, someone's got to keep me from smashing my face in until I get the hang of this." Lacking anything else to say or do – as his mind was still a bit stuck on _Sirius liked the way I looked down on my knees?_ – Remus simply nodded and hobbled over.

He had never been to a roller rink before, but Remus had owned a hand-me-down pair of roller skates as well as ice skates at one point in his childhood, and still vaguely recalled the balance and movements required to use them properly. Sirius, it seemed, though normally very adept at anything involving physical exertion, was most definitely struggling with the novelty of having wheels strapped to his feet. His first fall came in under a minute, the second shortly after that, and for the third he grabbed out to Remus for balance and sent them both crashing to the hard, smooth floor. Remus only had a moment to appreciate Sirius's hard angles pressing down on top of him before they were interrupted.

"Having some troubles?" James was suddenly shouting at them, as he skated by. The bastard had apparently picked up the art of roller skating with natural talent, and although he certainly wasn't going fast, or doing any tricky maneuvers, he was still coming by them steadily and confidently. Sirius raised an obscene gesture in salute to him as he passed, and Remus quickly reached out to grab his hand and pull it back down, as the last of the kids were still packing their things up for night with their parents nearby. "Don't worry," James continued with a laugh as he swept away, "Could be worse. Peter's making a right arse out of himself with his clinging to the wall for dear life."

It was true, Remus noted, spying Peter on the opposite side of the rink, desperately clutching the wall for support. The boy was unsteady enough on his own two feet on a good day, no wheels attached, and looked positively seasick with this activity. Remus noticed him looking longingly at the gate, and gathered that Peter would be exiting the rink as soon as his lap took him back to it, probably to go look around the arcade.

"That great buggering tit." Sirius grumbled as James glided away, pushing to his feet and holding onto the wall for support as he reached out a hand to pull Remus up as well. "Showing off because Evans is here."

Remus looked around and noticed that Lily _did_ seem reluctantly impressed with how quickly James had picked up the hang of things. "He can't help if he's good at it." He told Sirius. "And you know he'd show off whether or not Lily was here. You'd be doing the same if you could stay up for more than a moment at a time."

"Hey!" Sirius barked, indignantly. "I resent that, you mangy cur! You watch, I'll catch on any minute now, and I'll be rolley skating circles around you and all the rest of these Muggles!"

But of course he wasn't. As soon as they started out again, Sirius trembled and nearly lost his balance once more, but this time Remus was prepared, and reached out to grab him. Steadying himself, Sirius managed a sheepish grin, and resigned himself to clutching onto Remus's arm to guide him as they slowly got their footing and continued their lap.

It was nice, Remus thought, as he looked over at Sirius concentrating on staying as smooth and upright as possible, to do this together. Besides the obvious benefit of having an excuse to get Sirius to grab all over him, it wasn't often that he genuinely got to spend time with his friends, and Sirius in particular, one-on-one and just having fun that didn't involve pranks or trouble of some sort. Away from the pressure of school, and teachers, and parents, and expectations within the Magical community, Remus found that he was delighting in a night out with his friends, and especially reveling in the attention that Sirius was giving him. He was still confused, and torn between their friendship and his newfound feelings in Sirius, but tonight was the kind of might memories were made of, and Remus found himself wanting to enjoy it for what it was, despite whatever worries he may have at the moment, or for the future.

After a few laps, Sirius genuinely was getting better, but still retained contact with Remus. It was hard to stay close, grabbing around his arm – because their skates would bump and send them scrambling for balance – and had settled for wrapping his hand around Remus's wrist, nudging Remus into reciprocating so that they were not-quite holding hands, but close enough. It certainly would have appeared as such to a casual onlooker.

"Having fun?"

It was Lily, delicately pulling up beside them and keeping pace. Sirius startled a bit at her sudden appearance and wobbled, but Remus had seen her coming, and pulled him steady.

"Watch it, Evans, sneaking up like that." Sirius growled, obviously embarrassed to have faltered in front of her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh please, just because you're not good at something for once in your life, you don't have to be so stroppy about it."

"I am not –"

"Yes, we're having fun." Remus cut in, not wanting to start up a round of bickering. "How about you?"

"More than I thought I would." She replied, sounding amused despite herself. "You lot aren't as insufferable as I thought you'd be. I thought Potter might be made miserable if I dragged him to enough Muggle activities, but he's keeping up alright." But she didn't sound too disappointed at failing to throw James off the trail, and Remus thought that must mean he was making some progress. "How about you two? Look like you're getting on well, yeah?"

The question was innocent enough, phrased to sound like she was asking how they were enjoying the non-Magical activities, but the way she flickered her gaze between the two of them, and down to their entwined hands, seemed to imply a level of innuendo. Almost as if to confirm, she finished her question with a knowing, cheeky look as she locked eyes with Remus.

_No¸_ Remus thought, feeling his blood run cold. _No, there's no way she knows... I haven't told anyone, I've been so careful…_

"Anyway." She was continuing, as though she hadn't just implied that she knew Remus's deepest, darkest secret, "Emma and Piper flirted their way into some game tokens, so we were going to take a break from the rink for a little while, and I figured I'd let you know, since Potter already found the air hockey table and probably won't be parted from it long enough to come tell you two. But if you'd rather keep skating…" Her eyes took another quick look at their joined hands, and Remus blanched, instinctively tightening his grip in alarm. Sirius gave him a sidelong look at the movement, and he had to recover hastily.

"Yes, thanks that sounds fun. We'll, ah, be right over."

Lily smiled sweetly, but Remus saw a hint of the fiery she-devil Sirius always claimed she was behind her sparkling emerald eyes just before she took off. "Alright, then. See you in a bit."

It would have been awkward to drop Sirius's hand now, after all this time, lest he arouse suspicion in the wake of Lily's incognito comments, but Remus felt their bare skin touching like a branding iron as they finished their lap to the exit gate. Sirius was babbling beside him about (_'What's air hockey? What kind of tokens do you use for the games? How do you play air hockey? I bet I can beat James to a pulp at it, whatever it is'_) but Remus was hardly listening. He and Lily had never been close, with James as a driving wedge between their groups of friends, but he was a House Prefect with her, and they got along well for patrolling duties and in Prefect meetings and the like. Occasionally they had been paired on projects together for classes in which they were not allowed to pick their own partners. But even as Remus frantically wracked his brain, he could not ever remember saying anything too personal to her, or anything that could have given his feelings away. Hell, _he_ hadn't even known he'd had feelings about… well, feelings of the Sirius-related sort until very recently, himself.

Maybe it was a girl thing? He wouldn't know.

As they made their way off the rink, and began to unlace their skates to trade them back in for their regular shoes that they had stored away in little cubbies against the wall, Sirius finally let go of Remus's wrist, which was both a relief and a disappointment. Remus was hyper aware of his surroundings, and double questioning his interaction with Sirius… was it really obvious? Or was he being paranoid?

"Hey!" James was calling to them, waving them over to a large table with a glossy surface and raised edges. "Get over here you dogs, this is amazing! Only I need some proper competition since I'm flattening the girls and Peter at it!"

Rising to the challenge, Sirius forcibly yanked his skates off and tossed them aside, barely slipping his un-laced trainers back on before rushing off to James with a "Come on, Moony!" tossed back over his shoulder. Sighing, Remus took his time pulling the strings on his skates, and had only gotten finished unknotting the first loop when Lily rolled over to him, coming to a stop directly in front of him on the bench. He paused, looking up at her curiously, and not without a bit of apprehension.

"Hey, Lily." He said, cautious.

"Hey, Remus." She replied, looking down on him with a curious expression. "Ah, care for one last lap?"

Remus eyed her skeptically. "With you?"

She nodded, and Remus reluctantly re-tightened his laces, standing up. "Alright then, one lap. And I hope it's worth James being furious with me, because he will be, you know."

Right on cue, James spied them heading to the rink together. "Hey!" He yelled, eyeing them suspiciously, frowning at Remus. "Where are you two going?"

"Prefect business, you wouldn't be interested." Lily answered shortly, tossing her curly red locks offhandedly over her shoulder as she led the way back to the rink.

"But you just got here…" James protested. Lily didn't answer, and Remus tried to look reassuring and trustworthy as he replied.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be back in just a minute."

But James didn't look very reassured. Certainly not due to the fact that he didn't trust Remus to not put the moves on Lily, but, if nothing else, out of jealousy that anyone else spend any sort of one-on-one time with Lily within his sight.

Meeting Lily out on the rink, Remus felt slightly lopsided at not having another person holding onto him, but he certainly wasn't going to hold hands with Lily. If not for lack of interest, then because he placed a bit more value than that on his bits, which James would certainly have on a silver platter if Remus did any such thing.

"So?" Remus began, as they fell into place beside each other at a leisurely pace. He felt a slight dread at whatever she might have to say to him (as she certainly wouldn't have called him away for 'prefect's business', whatever she told the others. They could be left alone to talk about that anytime they wanted, as no one else had the slightest interest in _that_ conversation topic) but wanted to get whatever it was over with as soon as possible.

"Well," Lily began, sounding about as awkward as Remus felt, but at least a bit more resolute. "I just wanted to… you know, apologize. In case I made anything awkward back there. You looked like… maybe it's none of my business, but I thought…"

Remus was sure he knew what she was referring to, but would be damned if he was going to be the one to say it. He decided to play dumb, instead. "What are you talking about?"

Throwing him a somewhat exasperated look, she huffed "Oh you know what I mean. The implications I was making about you and Black. I guess I thought you two were on the same level, with how you've been all night, and you were holding hands, but then you looked like… like I'd just thrown ice down your pants or something, so I'm sorry if I was out of line. Did you not know?"

His heart froze as she explained herself, because _yes, she __**had**__ noticed_, but something about her last question was off, and this time he didn't have to fake confusion into his reply. "I… I'm sorry? Did I not know what?"

Now it was Lily's turn to look confused. "What do you mean? I suppose I thought it was obvious, but did you really not realize that Black has some huge sort of crush on you?"

Reeling, Remus nearly lost his footing for a second, and Lily reached out to steady him, but it was only a nervous sort of wobble in the end. What on earth was she saying? How did she get it so backwards? "Lily, I… am really not sure what to say to that. But that's not… why would you think that?"

Lily threw him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? You two have been cozying up all night, and Black hasn't made one untoward advance towards either of my friends, and you were skating around holding hands –"

"We weren't… he couldn't balance, and –"

"–_holding hands_, and so I guess I thought it was mutual. So I was just _teasing_ you guys, but then you looked all… all _stricken_, and I realized my mistake. You looked like you couldn't wait to drop his hand and have an excuse to get away to the group after that, so I realized that maybe you hadn't known and I… wait…"

But something on Remus's face must have given him away as he processed what she was saying.

"Oh my god, _he_ doesn't know!" Lily looked anguished, and stopped right there in the middle of the lap. "Oh god Remus I'm so sorry, I thought he was the one coming on to you, and you didn't realize, when you looked so shocked, but it's the other way around, isn't it?"

People were starting to give them funny looks, as they remained stationary in the rink, and Lily was talking far too loudly and obviously for Remus's tastes. Their friends seemed to have noticed them too, likely due to James's keen watch on Lily at all times. Said Marauder was still frowning at Remus, and he noticed that Sirius was giving him a funny look as well.

"Lily please just shut up for a moment and keep moving." Remus whispered, desperately hoping to shush her and figure out what to do about this mess. They were almost at the exit, signaling the end of their "just one more lap", but Remus was in no position to rejoin his friends just yet, wishing for a bit more time to clear things up. Thankfully, Lily did as he asked, and Remus took a few calming breaths before speaking again as they kept pace for a second lap.

"Okay, _please_ Lily, all I ask of you is that we drop this, and never speak of it again, _especially_ to Sirius." He begged. This was a disaster. Lily _knew_, and it was his fault for being so obvious.

"What?" She gasped, rounding on him. "Why? Remus this is perfect, he –" she dropped her voice, "He _likes_ you! And you just as well as admitted that you like him too! I thought you guys had already reached an understanding, the way you've been cuddling up and making eyes at each other all night. But if he hasn't realized yet –"

"Then I'm certainly not going to _make_ him realize! Lily please, let's just not talk about this anymore. Why do you even care, you can't stand Sirius."

Lily frowned. "Alright, maybe I can barely stand him, but he's not so bad when he's not being an insufferable horndog, and I like _you_, and since it's pretty obvious that you two are interested in each other, I just… I thought I'd help."

Remus longed to rub his hands over his eyes, or possibly through his hair, as were his habits to clear off nervous energy, but didn't risk doing so for fear of losing balance. "How are you being so normal about this? It's… the whole thing is just _weird_, and even I don't understand it."

Lily frowned at him. "Well, like I said. I don't particularly care for him, but if he makes you happy, then I'm all for that, because you're a nice guy, Remus. What's weird about it? That you're both guys?" Remus flushed, embarrassed to have it laid out so bluntly. "Oh is that all? Please. Take a closer look at Emma and Piper."

"What?" Remus said, not understanding the change in topic for a moment. But then it clicked. "What! No way, they're… all night, they've been trying to pull boys!"

"Keep your voice down!" Lily chastised. "Anyways, it's more like all night they've been letting boys try to pull _them_. Gets them free food and tickets and the like, doesn't it? Not exactly morally sound, but I think it's like a game or something to them, I've never really paid much attention. But the point is, everyone's different, Remus. There's no right or wrong way to feel, when you love someone."

Remus blanched. "Who said anything about… you know."

"Well, when you want to get into someone's pants then, I don't know what you two are up to."

"_Lily_!"

"Oh look, here's our stop." Lily said with a falsely innocent expression as they came up on the gate. "Anyways, just think about it. If I can loosen up enough to agree to a date night with James Potter, you can give Black a chance. You're already mates, and all."

Remus just shook his head, still unable to believe the conversation that had just taken place. He felt a bit like he had just gotten hit by a truck, but all the same couldn't shake admiration for Lily's bold nature, honest words, and genuine concern for someone that she hardly even knew. In a completely objective way, he could suddenly understand what James saw in her, besides just a pretty face.

"Oh, and Remus?" Lily said in an undertone, as they stepped out together. "If you tell Potter that I called this a date night, I'll hex your balls off."

Somehow, Remus didn't doubt it.

They rejoined the group around the Air Hockey table, and James missed blocking a goal as he looked up at their reappearance. As predicted, he seemed a bit prickly with Remus.

"You two done getting cozy?" he jested, with a bit more ice behind his words than normal.

"If you can call outlining Prefect duty rosters _getting cozy_." Lily replied with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her hair. She moved to stand beside James at the goal, and he was sufficiently distracted and cheered at that. Remus had to hand it to her, she was clever.

"Alright, Moony, that means you're all mine again!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing an arm around Remus's waist and pulling him up to the other goal beside him as he handed Remus a round, flat, plastic thing with a handle. "Two-on-two for this last round! What a shame… slim pickin's for you, Potter!"

James glared at Sirius, before hopefully turning his expression on Lily. "Oh, alright." She relented, and James looked briefly taken aback, before enthusiastically handing her the same plastic knocker that Sirius had given to Remus, and explaining the rules, even though she surely already knew them.

Remus should have known better than to expect a friendly match, and Sirius and James were soon knocking the little flat disk at each other with vigour, enthusiastically shouting insults and slander at one another. Remus did his best to simply defend their goal and let Sirius work on getting the disk slammed into James and Lily's, which he seemed highly adept at.

"Never have been good at sealing the deal and getting the puck in the goal, have you Potter?" Sirius crowed after another successful goal, which was really quite bold considering the object of his implications was right by James's side. But they were nearly tied, and the next goal could win the game.

"Why you –" James began, but Lily cut him off.

"I know who's in love with Black." She threw back, tone level and challenging. Remus's jaw dropped. _She wouldn't…?_ But Sirius was surprised into inaction as well, and she took the chance to neatly knock the disk right into their goal, and the machine announced her win with flashing lights and electronic bells.

"Oh you absolute _bitch_!" Sirius snarled, realizing he'd been had. "I could clock you, if you weren't a girl!"

"I could kiss you, you clever girl!" James cried, throwing his arms around Lily in celebration, before reeling back, wheezing, as she elbowed him in the gut.

"All's fair in love and war." She replied, sounding smug.

Sirius refused to talk to Lily for the rest of the night, which Remus was secretly glad for, since he would rather keep her away from Sirius, knowing what she knew. While James took advantage of this separation within the group to impress Lily by throwing balls up a slope into numbered holes, Sirius dragged Remus off to some shooting games. They only had a token left, each, after the air hockey, but it was worth it to play shoulder-to-shoulder with an enthusiastic Sirius, who seemed to feel shooting on-screen enemies was a matter of real life life-or-death.

"Girls." Sirius muttered, as they both died for a final time in a flourish of pixelated gore. "They're rubbish."

"Hm?" Remus replied. "Oh, well I don't think Lily quite counts. Don't tell James, but she's not much good, as far as representing female-kind goes."

Sirius snorted. "You can say that again. But the whole lot of them are just useless, I mean. Manipulative wenches. Those friends of hers, getting blokes to pay for their snacks and tokens. All that getting makeup on and changing outfits a thousand times before they can go out. Useless."

Remus felt his pulse jumping erratically as he tried to process what Sirius was saying. He'd complained about specific girls before, usually after they turned down his overzealous advances, but this broad disinterest in the fairer sex entirely was something new, and in light of feelings for Sirius, and the events of the last bit of summer, and Lily's words and advice… Remus couldn't help but wonder.

"Thought you rather liked girls." Remus said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Rather a lot, actually."

Sirius caught Remus watching him for his answer, and turned his scowl into a grin. "Ah, they're alright to look at, fun to tease around." He said. "But nothing worth getting crazy over like James. They _make_ you crazy, s'what they do. Who needs them, right?"

Remus couldn't help the warm glow in his chest as Sirius tossed his arm over Remus's shoulder, leading him back to the group who was gathering up their things as they got ready to go, as it was getting late. "Right." He replied, quietly. "Who needs them…"

**.o.O.o.**

By the time they got back to Lily's house to Floo home it was late, and Peter was practically falling asleep against the car window, breath fogging the cold glass.

By the time they got back to James's place it was even later, and they all practically collapsed into bed. Peter flopped into James's room, as it was closer and the spare bed was already pulled out, leaving Sirius and Remus to head for the guest room. After all the revelations and events of the night, Remus felt a bit awkward as he made up his pull-out bed, as though his every move could give something away. But nothing out of the ordinary took place, and Remus wondered if Sirius had even noticed the shift in atmosphere that had taken place over the course of the night. For his part, Sirius simply shut the door, changed out of his clothes into his pajamas (Remus tried very hard not to look, but ended up sneaking a peek in the end anyways) and crawled into bed with an elaborate sigh.

"Tonight was pretty fun, eh Remus?" He said, smiling as he rubbed the heels of his palms over his eyes. "All that Muggle stuff, who knew."

Remus smiled, pulling his shirt over his head for bed. "The Muggles did, I suppose."

"Har har," Sirius replied, lolling his head to the side to fix Remus with an exasperatedly fond look. "You are just too funny for your own good sometimes, you know that?"

"I try." Remus replied, turning around while he changed out of his jeans into his soft pajama bottoms, embarrassed to do so while Sirius was looking at him. Covered in scars and definitively male, he found himself self-conscious of his friend's gaze, despite the amount of times they had gotten changed in the dormitories together. Usually not alone, however, which made the process seem more comfortably intimate in a way that tugged at Remus's gut. After turning out the light and settling in under the blankets, curling around his pillow, Remus glanced up at Sirius's bed, only to find that Sirius was looking back at him.

"What?" He asked in a whisper, uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

Sirius half-shrugged, rolling onto his stomach and tucking his face into his arms. "Just thinking." He replied in a hushed voice. He didn't say anything more for a minute and Remus started to wonder if he would elaborate at all, when he continued. "Seems like Evans is warming up to James. Wonder if he's got a chance after all."

"Maybe." Remus suggested. "If he can keep from being a prat around her for long enough."

Smiling and rolling onto his back, Sirius agreed. "Yeah, fat chance. But…" he trailed off, sounding unsure, which was unusual. "If he does, at least I'll still have you, right? You won't leave me for some frosty nag?"

Remus swallowed the lump that rose in his throat. No, leaving Sirius for a girl certainly didn't seem like something Remus would be contemplating anytime soon. "I doubt James is going to leave you; us." Remus assured him. "Even if he does manage to get with Evans. But, I promise I won't leave you either, all the same."

Up on the bed, Sirius sighed deeply. "Good." Rolling back over, he tucked his arm under his pillow and laid his head down on it, fixing Remus with an intensely fond look. "Because I'd track you down and drag you back anyways. You're better to have around than some fussy wench any day."

Not sure how to respond to this, Remus simply smiled and nodded, nuzzling his face into his pillow so that he wouldn't give himself away. Had Sirius just admitted that he preferred Remus to girls? Though perhaps he was speaking in terms of stability and longevity as friends… perhaps it was not meant in any romantic terms at all. But after what Lily had said to him earlier…? Remus shook his head to himself. It wouldn't do any good to overanalyze every last interaction between them from here on out, or he'd drive himself crazy.

"G'night, Moony." Sirius softly spoke, pulling the covers up and tucking in.

"Goodnight, Pads." Remus whispered back, watching Sirius curl up in bed from beneath his fringe.

But as easily as Sirius seemed to be able to shrug the night off and drift into sleep, Remus could not. An hour or so later he lay still awake, his mind tossing and turning over confused thoughts. Sirius had been so familiar with him over the last stretch of summer; could there really be a chance that Remus was not picking up the clues for? Then again, what if he took that shadow of a chance, and ran with it, and spoiled everything when Sirius had only been acting friendlier than usual because James had been distracted with Lily and Sirius had been in need of a replacement best mate? Going in circles was getting him nowhere, and with a heaving sigh, Remus quietly sat up, eyeing the window.

Sirius was deep in sleep, snoring softly, as Remus padded across the room, prying the window open a bit further than they had left it earlier, to let a breeze in, as gently as he could manage. With one last look back over his shoulder to confirm that Sirius was still unaware, Remus got one leg over the ledge, gently prying himself the rest of the way through after it. James lived in a two-story house with a gently sloping roof that was perfect for sneaking out on at night, and Remus figured he could do with some air to clear his muddled thoughts. Crouching, he carefully scooted over a few feet to lean back against the side of the house, and wrapped his arms around his knees as he let his head fall back.

What a mess.

The Marauders were the best group of friends Remus ever could have asked for, and he felt as though he was doing a wonderful job messing it all up. The best thing to do, he reluctantly acknowledged, would probably be to try to forget about it and go on as they always had. Their last year at Hogwarts was just over the horizon, and would undoubtedly require more of their attention than all previous years combined. After that they would be out into the world, and maybe with some time, and distance, this strange, confusing summer would be nothing but a hazy memory that he could look back on and laugh at. _'Did you know, Sirius, that I had a silly crush on you once? How foolish of me, don't you think?'_

"What are you doing out here?"

Remus gasped, heart leaping out of his chest in surprise, and scrambled slightly as his shocked lurch nearly sent him sprawling down the roof and over the edge. "Sirius! You startled me!"

But Sirius was already crawling out of the window, looking concerned, as Remus righted himself. "Merlin, Remus – watch yourself. It'd put a bit of a damper on things if you fell off the roof." He said, reaching Remus's side and locking arms with him to hold Remus steady, even though the danger had more than passed, and never been anything more than fleeting to begin with.

"Yes, well." Remus retorted, feeling a bit ruffled. "Maybe if people didn't go shouting at me out of windows in the middle of the night we wouldn't have this problem." Sirius just rolled his eyes in response, before scooting closer all the same.

"Well maybe people wouldn't shout at you if they weren't wondering where you'd disappeared to in the middle of the night, with only an open window as a clue." Sirius told him, sounding exasperated but fond. Remus only huffed indignantly in reply, unsure of how to respond to that, and Sirius continued. "You alright, Moony?"

"Fine." Remus replied, hoping that if he told that to himself and everyone else enough times that it would be true. "Just couldn't sleep, was all. So I came out for some air, thought I'd look at the stars or something, I guess."

"Hmm." Sirius hummed in acknowledgement.

They sat for a while in silence, which grew bittersweet for Remus as his resolve to try and be a normal friend crumbled around him. Sighing and giving in, he leaned his head to rest on Sirius's shoulder. "Sorry if I woke you up." He said, reveling in Sirius's closeness and sleepy warmth. "You can go back to bed if you'd like. I promise I won't fall off the roof."

Sirius huffed as if he wasn't sure he believed that, tilting his head to rest it against Remus's. "I'm awake now, might as well stay here and make sure you keep your sorry arse in one piece. Besides, the lights are kind of nice, aren't they?"

"Hm?" Remus replied, before looking out where Sirius was gazing, seeing the flickering glow of the city in the distance. It looked so quiet and peaceful from here, like a sparkling, towering forest. "Oh, yeah. It is nice, isn't it? I hadn't really noticed."

Remus felt Sirius turn his head to the side, and could sense the funny look that his friend was probably giving him. "You're an odd one, Moons." Sirius said in a pondering voice. "Looking up at the stars and not noticing something so much closer and brighter."

Squirming uncomfortably at the scrutiny, Remus babbled, "Well, actually – comparatively, I mean – the stars are actually much brighter than –"

Sirius laughed, pulling Remus against him so that he could get him in a proper arm-lock and mess up his hair. "What is _wrong_ with you, sometimes?" He chuckled. "Giving me an Astronomy lesson when we're out here enjoying a romantic look at the city? Save it for class. I never did care much for where all my family namesakes came from, and I'm sure I'll appreciate your genius knowledge on the outer universe when I'm being tested on it much more than I do now. Anyways, it's getting cold, let's head back inside."

And with that, Sirius tugged Remus along until they were clambering back in through the window to the safety and darkness of their room.

Once inside, Remus shut the window and made to get back in his bed, when Sirius stopped him with a hand around his wrist. "Wait up." He said, "I'm not tired anymore, and it's your fault. Sit up with me?" And, of course, how could Remus refuse?

Arranging themselves on Sirius's bed with their backs leaning against the wall and their legs comfortably stretched out across the bed's width, Remus's heart rate picked up considerably. _'I'm in bed with Sirius, I'm in bed with Sirius, __**I'm in bed with Sirius**__'_ His brain supplied on repeat. Worried he would say it aloud, he tried to stammer out something else, anything else, instead.

"So –"

"What were you –"

He and Sirius spoke at the same time, both stopping awkwardly upon realizing it.

"You go first." Remus quickly insisted, knowing he hadn't had anything of substance to say anyways.

"Alright" Sirius agreed. "I was just wondering what was keeping you awake so stubbornly that you had to go out and nearly throw yourself off the roof for."

"Oh for – for the last time, Sirius I was not going to –"

Sirius grinned. "I know, I just like teasing you."

After a few long moments passed, Remus realized that Sirius was still waiting for an answer. "Okay. Well, I guess… I don't know, Sirius. I'm just… confused." Realizing this sounded perhaps a bit more honest and revealing than he had intended, he amended, "Just, with our last year coming up, and all the homework and tests, and I suppose you got me thinking about… about us splitting up for girls, as well…" Damn, that wasn't much better.

Apparently thinking along these same lines, Sirius elbowed Remus with a patronizing sort of expression. "Come on, you're great at all that schoolwork shite. And after this year we'll be free! We'll get to start doing whatever we really want to be doing, and you're only fooling yourself if you think we're all going to be splitting up over something stupid like _girls_. Honestly. I only said that stuff earlier about James and Evans because I'm not used to having to share my best mate, but you set me straight about that, and it's gotten me all the closer to you at any rate, so maybe it's not so bad after all, yeah?"

Remus really had no idea how to respond to that, and felt his traitorous eyes starting to well up in little pricklings of possible tears to come, and that just wouldn't do.

"Sirius… Sirius, I… I don't know…" he tried, unsuccessful in organizing his thoughts into any semblance of coherence. Sirius took pity on him, scooting closer and throwing an arm around Remus's shoulders.

"Remus…" he prompted, gently. "What's wrong, really?"

Remus couldn't trust himself to reply, so he simply shook his head, lower lip trembling pathetically, but Sirius wasn't having it. It was unusual to see Sirius so thoughtful and concerned, and Remus blinked rapidly as Sirius coaxed him to look up with a gentle finger under his chin.

"It's alright." Sirius said, understanding. "You can tell me anything, Remus, it's okay. Whatever it is."

But it wasn't okay, and it wasn't going to _be_ okay, and Sirius was so close, and so warm, and so handsome and genuinely concerned, and suddenly Remus had just _had it_. Lunging forward, tilting his head at the last second to avoid a painful collision, he pressed his lips to Sirius's, closing his eyes tight as he wondered_ just_ _what the hell he was doing_. Sirius, for his part, made a surprised noise and went very stiff, and – coming to his senses – Remus pulled back, face flushed in embarrassment and feeling as though he very well might be sick at what he had just done.

"I… oh my god. Sirius. I… I am _so_ sorry, I –"

He never got to finish his stammering, for in the next second Sirius was utterly _upon_ him – threading a hand through his hair to pull him close, wrapping the other around Remus's back as their lips met again in a warm, slick slide that was definitely reciprocated this time around. Remus gasped, brain trying and failing to process what was happening, and Sirius slid his tongue along Remus's lower lip as it fell open, causing Remus to go absolutely limp, whimpering slightly. Sirius held him tight so that he didn't swoon over, but pulled back slightly, touching their foreheads as they both caught up on breathing.

"Sorry." Sirius whispered. "I didn't mean to… you know. Bit overwhelming, yeah?"

Remus blinked owlishly as his brain fumbled to gather thoughts together. "Sirius, what… I don't understand…"

Threading his fingers soothingly through Remus's hair, Sirius sighed. "I've been waiting all summer to do that, you know. I'd been trying to drop hints, but you always seemed to get scared off, so I wasn't sure."

Heart absolutely thundering in his chest, Remus looked up at Sirius, who was looking a bit bashful at his admission, but cocky and pleased with himself all the same.

"You mean…" Remus slowly responded, still not sure this wasn't some elaborate dream. "All this time… all the touching, and the jokes…"

"And don't forget me molesting you on the dance floor." Sirius reminded him, smirking.

"Oh my god." Remus said. "So you've… all this time… you've been _planning_…"

"What can I say?" Sirius replied, grinning. "I've got _dogged_ determination." He faltered slightly, frowning a bit. "And I was right, wasn't I? I mean, you… it's not just me, right?"

Exhaling an unsteady laugh, Remus shook his head against Sirius and closed his eyes. "No, Sirius. It's not just you."

Remus could feel the grin break out across Sirius's face, and before his could match it in kind he was being pushed over onto his back, Sirius crawling over him and sealing their lips together once more. Remus could feel him smiling as they kissed, and was unable to stop himself from doing the same. Their lips pressed together sloppily, as it was hard to smile and kiss at the same time, and Sirius pulled his hands out of Remus's hair and from around his waist to grab at Remus's hands, entwining their fingers and slowly maneuvering Remus's arms up over his head, to be pressed into the mattress as Sirius climbed more completely on top of him.

It was as one of Sirius's knees came up in between Remus's legs, and Sirius's chest pressed down against Remus's, that things suddenly seemed a lot less blissfully innocent, and started taking a turn into something much more serious. Remus gasped, thoughts suddenly rushing through his mind (_he didn't mean to take it this far, he likes girls, he's going to realize any minute now that I don't feel like the body he wants, he's going to take it all back_) but Sirius only let out a shaky breath, speaking against Remus's lips as he tentatively rubbed himself along the length of Remus's body.

"Is this okay?"

Remus thought for a moment about telling him that they should slow down, that they should talk about this a little bit first, but he swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and found himself answering, instead, "Yeah, it's okay."

With a pleased rumbling murmur of agreement, Sirius sank his full weight on top of Remus, resuming their liplock with enthusiastic gasps and seeking tongues even as he tangled their legs and aligned their hips. Any thoughts Remus had entertained about slowing things down evaporated in an instant – in the end it came down to the fact that they were two teenage boys who had been waiting a very long time for something like this, and that was that. Seeming to read his thoughts and agree wholeheartedly, Sirius growled appreciatively at the feeling of their bodies slotting together in welcoming angles and contours as they undulated slowly against one another, causing Remus's heart rate to skyrocket. He suddenly felt too warm in his own skin, and even the slight layers of their pajama clothes between them seemed suffocating and cumbersome, and he squirmed uncomfortably, trying to somehow worm his way out of them and closer to Sirius.

Sensing his movements for what they were, Sirius nipped gently at Remus's bottom lip before pulling back only as much as he had to in order to slide his hands down Remus's body, slipping them under the hem of Remus's sleep t-shirt and tugging it up.

"This needs to come off." He whispered huskily, pushing it up as far as Remus's nipples before becoming distracted with running his thumbs over them firmly. Muffling the noise of fervor that this evoked, Remus struggled to extricate himself from his shirt, feeling Sirius shift up to do the same for himself. The movement pressed their hips together more firmly, and they gasped, sloppily throwing their shirts aside before diving back into one another.

In a far off corner of his mind, Remus wondered over the fact that they were in James's house, with him and Peter only a short hallway away, and that either one of them could get up to use the bathroom in between at any time and likely hear the rustling and gasping that Remus and Sirius were getting up to… but as their bare chests met and Sirius let out a low groan of satisfaction, he found that he really wasn't as concerned as he would have thought he should be.

With so much bare flesh now in the open, they rubbed against each other greedily, unable to get enough. Kissing had been given up in favour of panting against each other's mouths as they moved together, but Sirius took it upon himself to lean back in and press open-mouthed caresses along Remus's neck.

"Ah, Sirius…" Remus panted, arching up into the heat and the wet suction, only to gasp loudly as his eagerness was rewarded with a long, wet lick, followed by the pressure of Sirius's teeth as he clamped them down on the juncture of Remus's neck and shoulder.

"_Oh_!" Remus gasped, his whole body pressing up into Sirius's as warmth and pleasure spread, tingling, down his spine. Growling low in his throat, Sirius repeated the action, pressing himself down as Remus arched up, and suddenly they were both very aware of what all of their kissing and rubbing had culminated in when their hips pressed together in exquisite, delicious pressure.

"Remus…" Sirius panted, frantically scrambling for the waistline of Remus's pajama bottoms. "Remus _please_, please, I want to…"

"Yes, I know, _yes_." Remus gasped, lifting his hips and allowing Sirius to tug his pants down as he grasped and fumbled with Sirius's in return.

Their reunion, devoid of a single obstructing article of clothing to come between their slick, bare skin, was breathtaking. Groaning in unison, they grappled for holding points on one another; Sirius, winding his fingers into Remus's hair and tugging to expose Remus's throat for his mouth to descend on, and Remus clutching desperately at Sirius's shoulder blades, fingernails digging in with blunt pressure as he tried to ground himself amid the overwhelming sensation. They rutted against one another with abandon, rhythm and finesse being passed over for sheer enthusiasm as their slick cocks slid fluidly together, almost too much sensation to endure.

"Remus, I can't, I have to –" Sirius gasped, removing one of his hands from Remus's hair to pull Remus's leg over his hip, before reaching around to press it against the small of Remus's back, holding them snugly together as they thrust and pulled.

Remus knew it was all going to be over way too fast, but there was nothing he could do to stop it when he felt prickling warmth spreading like electricity through his veins, his muscles tensing on the verge of release. "Sirius, I…" He panted, trying to keep his voice down. "I'm going to…"

"I know, me too…" Sirius replied in a low, strained voice. "Come on, Remus, I want to see your face when you –"

But just at that moment, hearing Sirius's sex-roughened voice speaking into his ear with hot puffs of gasping breaths was all it took to send Remus over the edge. He whimpered wantonly with the raw force of it, shutting his eyes tight and throwing his head back as he came against Sirius's stomach, feeling Sirius's cock throb against his in reaction, pulses of hot release that were not his own hitting his belly between them. He made a pathetic sound in his throat at the realization that he had just come all over his best friend, and oh god Sirius had made a mess coming all over him in return, and then Sirius was slumping down, boneless, half on top of Remus, but thoughtful enough not to burden him with his full weight, or to squish around the mess they'd made on themselves any worse than it already was.

Completely blissed out, Remus took a minute or two to simply pant up at the ceiling, absolutely shocked and thrilled at what had just taken place. As his racing pulse calmed and the reality of the situation started to sink in, he had a brief moment of panic where thoughts like _'oh god, he's going to realize what he just did and be disgusted, what have we done, our friendship is ruined'_ before Sirius sluggishly raised the arm he had draped over Remus's chest to brush Remus's sweating fringe out of his eyes in a surprisingly gentle gesture that had Remus's heart constricting in a most painfully sweet way.

"Alright there?" Sirius huffed, shifting slightly so that he could rest his head on his arm to have a look over Remus.

"Uh, yeah." Remus shakily replied, shivering slightly as the chill of the room settled in on his sweat-soaked body. Sirius groaned and pushed himself up, clearing his throat awkwardly as he used the sheet to wipe them off as best as he could, before pulling it out from the rest and tossing it to the floor. "Are you… alright?"

"Never better." Sirius replied with a laugh, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm over his eyes. "Merlin, I had no idea it would be so…" He trailed off, apparently not knowing the words to describe it. He let his arm fall back over his head and fixed Remus with a look. "You're amazing Remus, you know that?"

"I…" Remus stuttered, flushing spectacularly and unable to meet Sirius's eyes. "So are you."

"Hmm." Sirius hummed, rolling back over and dragging the rest of the blankets with him. "We probably need a shower, but I'm too tired to move."

Remus smiled, scooting into Sirius's embrace. "We can take one in the morning. We're not even facing the right direction on the bed."

"D'un care." Sirius mumbled into Remus's hair. "Just had amazing sex with you. Tired now. Let's go t'sleep."

Sighing blissfully, Remus was sure he had never heard a better suggestion. Sirius spooned around him, drifting off, and Remus was so tired, but couldn't help but wonder what the events that had just transpired between them would bring, come morning. What would Sirius think in the light of day? Where would they go from here? What if James and Peter found out? How would they –

"Hey Remus."

Remus shifted slightly, turning in Sirius's hold so that they faced one another, limbs tangled and arms thrown around one another. "Yeah?"

"Stop thinking so loud. S'keeping me awake."

Smiling sheepishly, Remus tucked his head under Sirius's chin. "Sorry."

They settled into each other's hold for a few quiet minutes, Remus simply listening to Sirius breath and marveling and basking over how things had come to be, and then...

"Remus?"

"... yeah?"

"Love you. Just so y'know."

So overjoyed he thought he might melt, heart burning brighter than the sun, Remus scooted closer, pressing their foreheads together and closing his eyes. "I love you too, Sirius."

"Mmm. Good. G'night."

And Remus figured that was good enough for him, as far as assurances went. No matter what happened, they had the memories of this last summer, and tonight they were young and together and had their whole lives ahead of them to figure things out. They were Marauders. And they loved each other.

"Goodnight, Sirius."

Things were going to be okay, and it had been one hell of a summer.

**.o.O.o.**

**.**

_**the end**_


End file.
